BISHOP    PADDOCK 
,;  LECTURES 

A.U.   1QOO 


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1f^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    by    CJ  ^  (S   OWA^f^OV, 


Division V.^: 

BT  1101  .S55  1900 
Shields,  Charles  W.  1825- 

1904. 
The  scientific  evidences  of 

revealprJ    rpliainn 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES 
OF  EEVEALED  RELIGION 

THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTUEES 

FOR   THE    YEAR   1900 


BY 


// 


Rev.  CHARLES  WOODRUFF  SHIELDS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF   THE   HARMONY  OF   SCIENCE  AND  REVEALED 

RELIGION   IN    PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

AND  A  TRUSTEE  OF  THE  GENERAL   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  OF 

THE  PROTESTANT   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH 


NEW  YORK  ^ 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1900 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDINO  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


(3Co 

THE  RIGHT  REVEREr^D 
THE  BISHOP  OF  LONG  ISLAND 

ABRAM    NEWKIRK    LITTLEJOHN 

SCHOLAR   •    PRELATE    •    FRIEND 
THIS  BOOK   IS  INSCRIBED 


THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTURES 

In  the  summer  of  tlie  year  1880,  George  A.  Jarvis, 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  moved  by  his  sense  of  the  great 
good  which  might  thereby  accrue  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
and  to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  an  ever- grateful 
member,  gave  to  the  General  Theological  Seminary  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  certain  securities,  ex- 
ceeding in  value  $11,000,  for  the  foundation  and  main- 
tenance of  a  Lectureship  in  said  seminary. 

Out  of  love  to  a  former  pastor  and  enduring  friend, 
the  Eight  Kev.  Benjamin  Henry  Paddock,  D.D.,  Bishop 
of  Massachusetts,  he  named  the  foundation  "The  Bishop 
Paddock  Lectureship." 

The  deed  of  trust  declares  that : 

"  The  subjects  of  the  lectures  shall  be  such  as  apper- 
tain to  the  defence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Cheist,  as 
revealed  in  the  Holy  Bible  and  illustrated  in  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer^  against  the  prevailing  errors  of  the 
day,  whether  materialistic,  rationalistic,  or  professedly 
religious,  and  also  to  its  defence  and  confirmation  in  re- 
spect of  such  central  truths  as  the  Trinity ,  the  Atone- 
ment, Justification^  and  the  Inspiration  of  the  Word  of 
God;  and  of  such  central  facts  as  the  Church's  Divine 
Order  and  Sacraments,  her  historical  Reformation,  and 
her  rights  and  powers  as  a  pure  and  national  Church. 
And  other  subjects  may  be  chosen  if  unanimously  ap- 


viii  THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTURES 

l)roved  by  the  Board  of  Appointment  as  being  botli 
timely  and  also  within  the  true  intent  of  this  Lecture- 
ship." 

Under  the  appointment  of  the  board  created  by  the 
trust,  the  Ilev.  Charles  Woodruff  Shields,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Professor  of  the  Harmony  of  Science  and  Revealed  Ke- 
ligion  in  Princeton  University,  delivered  the  Lectures 
for  the  year  1900,  contained  in  this  volume. 


PREFACE 

The  literary  form  of  the  following  papers  has  been 
predetermined  by  the  occasion  for  which  they  were 
prepared,  as  Lectures  in  the  Chapel  of  the  General 
Theological  Seminary. 

In  the  first  two  Lectures  it  became  necessary  to  touch 
upon  some  current  questions  of  biblical  criticism  so  far 
as  they  are  involved  in  the  relations  of  Science  and  the 
Bible.  As  these  questions  could  not  be  thoroughly 
discussed  within  such  limits,  I  have  added  several  es- 
says designed  to  unfold  more  fully  the  special  topics 
to  which  they  refer. 

The  lecture  on  "  Bishop  Butler's  Contribution  to  the 
Christian  Evidences  "  would  naturally  serve  as  an  his- 
torical introduction  to  the  whole  course  of  lectures.  It 
was  originally  delivered  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
Virginia  and  afterward  repeated  in  the  General  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  New  York.  The  article  on  "  The 
Alleged  Scientific  Errors  of  the  Bible  "  is  here  repro- 
duced by  permission  from  the  Century  3Icujazine.  The 
other  papers  have  not  before  been  published. 

It  should  be  added  that  occasionally  arguments  and 
expressions  have  been  taken  from  the  second  volume 
of  my  Philosophia  Ultima  in  anticipation  of  a  revision 
and  completion  of  that  work. 

On  the  basis  of  the  principles  premised,  I  have  en- 


X  PREFACE 

deavored  in  this  volume  to  collect  evidences  in  favor  of 
revealed  religion  from  the  sciences  of  astronomy,  geol- 
ogy, and  anthropology.  Similar  portions  of  evidence 
should  yet  be  collected  from  the  sciences  of  psychol- 
ogy, sociology,  comparative  religion,  and  from  the  philo- 
sophical sciences,  in  order  to  complete  the  whole  body 
of  the  Scientific  Evidence.  The  materials  for  this 
remaining  task  have  already  been  gathered  for  future 
publication. 

Charles  W.  Shields. 
Princeton  University, 
October,  1900. 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

The  Logical  Nature  of  the  Scientific  Evidence     1 

The  Christian  religion  now  assailed  in  the  name  of  science. — Present 
state  of  parties, — Duty  of  uniting  the  old  and  new  schools  of  biblical  study 
in  defence  of  the  Faith,  on  scientific  ground. — Historical  origin  of  the 
Scientific  Evidence. — Its  logical  premises — Theism,  Revelation,  the  Canon. 
— Popular  fallacies  now  hindering  its  due  api»reciation  :  First,  "  The  Bible 
was  designed  to  teach  nothing  but  religion  and  morals" — False  in  its 
premise,  in  its  process,  and  in  its  product  —  The  Bible  in  its  scope  in- 
clusive of  Science  as  well  as  Religion. — Second  Fallacy,  "  The  Bible  con- 
tains scientific  errors  "  —  Based  on  a  questionable  theory  of  inspiration — 
Proves  too  little,  or  too  much,  when  consistently  applied. — The  so-called 
errors  are  approximate  truths  and  partial  revelations. — Unfortunate  use 
of  the  word  "error"  in  connection  with  the  sacred  writings. — The  Bible 
neither  teaches  science  nor  anything  contrary  to  science. 


n 

The  Logical  Value  of  the  Scientific  Evidence     24 

Third  Fallacy  :  "  The  Bible  is  literature  to  be  studied  like  other  books" — 
New  literary  interest  in  the  Bible — Superficial  resemblances  between  litera- 
ture and  Scripture — The  one  fundamental  difference — Prophets  and  apostles 
not  mere  poets  and  philosophers. — Their  personal  errancy  outside  of  their 
inspired  writings — Their  personal  freedom  as  organs  of  the  Holy  Spirit— 
The  Divine  unity  of  the  Scriptures. — Other  requisites  of  l)il)lical  study 
besides  the  literary  :  1.  Logical — Mere  higher  criticism  not  fully  applicable 
to  inspired  writings ;  2.  Scientific  problems  not  to  be  solved  by  mere  liter- 
ary methods — The  Higher  Criticism  becoming  too  unscientific — Its  barren 


xii  CONTENTS 

results;  3.  Spiritual  discernment  more  important  than  literary  taste. — 
Irreverence  and  rationalism  of  the  Radical  School  of  higher  critics. — The 
reverent  conservative  school  to  be  distinguished  from  them  and  welcomed 
on  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  principles  of  the  Scientific  Evidence.— High 
qualities  of  the  Scientific  Evidence. — Its  four  sources  and  forms  :  Evidence 
of  scientific  authorities,  scientific  facts,  scientific  theories,  and  scientific 
marvels. — Its  value  in  relation  to  the  other  Christian  Evidences;  to  the 
scientist  himself  ;  and  to  the  interests  of  civilization. 


Ill 

PAGE 

The  Evidence  from  Astronomy 51 

1.  Historical  growth  of  the  astronomical  evidence. — The  testimony  of  as- 
tronomers.—3.  Perfect  agreement  of  astronomical  facts  and  revealed  truths. 
— Astronomical  literature  illustrative  of  the  Divine  attributes.— 3.  Provis- 
ional agreement  of  astronomical  hypotheses  and  revealed  doctrines. — Series  of 
nebula;,  suns,  and  planets.  — The  constancy  or  the  evolution  of  cosmic  types 
in  relation  to  the  doctrine  of  creation. — The  babitability  or  unhabitability 
of  planets  in  relation  to  the  doctrine  of  angels. — A  permanent  cosmos  or  a 
final  chaos  in  relation  to  the  doctrine  of  new  heavens  and  earth. — Overwhelm- 
ing problems  of  astronomy. — 4.  Astronomical  miracles. — Standing  Still  of 
the  Sun,  Dial  of  Ahaz,  Star  of  the  Nativity,  made  credible  by  marvels  of 
modern  science.- Remaining  difficulties  of  faith. — The  apparent  insignifi- 
cance of  Earth  and  Man  in  the  astronomical  universe. 


IV 

The  Evidence  from  Geology 79 

Its  historical  growth. — Testimony  of  geologists. — Geological  facts  and  re- 
vealed truths.— Rich  geological  literature  illustrating  the  divine  wisdom  and 
goodness. — The  nebulous  earth  and  the  biblical  chaos. — The  Catastrophists 
and  the  Uniformitarians  in  relation  to  the  Six  Creative  day.s. — Exegetical 
questions.— The  human  and  Divine  Sabbath.— Critical  questions.— The  sta- 
bility or  the  dis.solution  of  the  globe  in  relation  to  the  New  Earth.— Geo- 
logical miracles  :  The  Deluge,  Burning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  Ex- 
odus, etc.— Comparative  strength  of  the  geological  evidence.— Difficulty  of 
conceiving  geological  time.— Biblical  predictions  of  geological  events  and 
their  spiritual  lessons. 


CONTENTS  xiii 


PAGK 

The  Evidence  from  Anthropology 107 

Definition  of  anthropology  as  the  chief  biological  science,  embracing 
ethnology,  philology,  and  archeology. — Early  stage  of  its  evidence. — Testi- 
mony of  biologists  and  physiologists. — Revealed  truths  in  anthropology. — 
Its  religious  literature. — The  constancy  of  the  human  .species  or  the  evolu- 
tion of  animal  into  human  species  as  advocated  by  ethnologists,  philologists, 
and  archfeologists. — Relation  of  these  speculations  to  the  First  Adam. — 
The  unity  or  plurality  of  races  in  reference  to  the  Fail  of  Adam. — Exegetical 
questions. — Critical  questions. — The  physical  corruptibility  or  perfectibility 
of  the  species  in  relation  to  the  Second  Adam. — Miracles  of  the  Ark,  Tower 
of  Babel,  Gift  of  Tongues,  etc.,  in  the  light  of  modern  science. — Problems 
of  anthropology  as  connected  with  geology  and  angelology.  — The  theory  of 
human  evolution  not  irreconcilable  with  revealed  religion. — Difficulty  of 
reconciling  pain  and  death  in  inanimate  nature  with  the  divine  benevolence. 
— Beautiful  adaptation  of  external  nature  to  the  sesthetical  faculty  of  man, 
as  shown  by  the  three  physical  sciences  which  have  been  reviewed. 


VI 

Bishop  Butler's    Contribution    to    the    Chris- 
tian Evidences 140 

The  personality  of  Butler.— The  Epoch  of  Butler.— His  Literary  Deficien- 
cies.— Alleged  Logical  Deficiencies. — Metaphysical  Deficiencies. — Religious 
Deficiencies.— His  positive  contributions.— His  valuation  of  Christian  Ev- 
idence.— His  use  of  Inductive  Logic  or  Scientific  Analogy.  His  statement 
of  the  Problems  of  Scientific  Evidence.— Consequent  Principles  of  the  New 
Scientific  Evidence. 


VII 

The  Alleged  Scientific  Errors  of  the  Bible  .  188 

Admitted  Literary  Imperfections. — Some  Historiographical  Defects. — 
Textual  Glosses  as  in  all  literature,  but  no  Scientific  Errors  strictly  so 
called. — The  Physical  teaching  of  the  Bible  distinguished  and  summarized. 


xiv  CONTENTS 

It  is  never  described  in  Scripture  as  erroneous.— It  is  not  separable  from 
the  spiritual,  with  which  it  is  implicated.— Both  the  physical  and  the  spir- 
itual teaching  are  non-scientific  in  form.— The  one  no  more  reconcilable 
with  popular  fallacies  than  the  error.— Both  have  a  permanent  and  uni- 
versal import  as  well  as  local  reference.— The  physical  teaching  adapted  to 
our  intellectual  wants  and  capacities.— Its  relative  importance.— Its  eviden- 
tial value. — Its  metaphysical  value  in  complimenting  empirical  science. 
Its  philosophical  value  in  consummating  the  Science  of  Sciences. — The  im- 
pending battle  for  the  truth  of  Holy  Writ.— At  first,  an  unequal  Contest.— 
Duty  of  all  friends  of  Humanity  to  unite  with  Christian  believers  in  defence 
of  revealed  truth. 


VIII 

PAGE 

The  Mythical  Theory  of  Kevealed  Keligion    .  217 

The  latest  and  most  subtle  form  of  unbelief.— Plausibility  of  the  Myth- 
ical Theory. — It?  logical  consistency. — Its  philosophical  origin  in  German 
philosophy,  and  biblical  criticism. — Definition  of  the  myth. — Criteria  for 
distinguishing  philosophical  or  historic  myths,  as  defined  by  Strauss. — Neg- 
ative marks.  — Positive  marks. — Illustration  from  the  Annunciation. — Ar- 
guments for  the  theory. — Their  Refutation. 


IX 

The    Historical    Evidence    of    Eevealed    Ke- 
ligion     240 

The  problems  of  universal  history  as  stated  in  Holy  Scripture  :  1.  The 
existence  of  Evil ;  2.  A  plurality  of  races  and  nations ;  3.  Different  forms 
of  civilization;  4.  Different  forms  of  false  religion. — Relation  of  these 
problems  to  the  revealed  scheme  of  human  redemption.— The  Pre-Christian 
periods  of  experiment  and  preparation.  —  The  Post-Christian  periods  of 
appropriation  and  realization.— Tendencies  toward  a  final  form  of  Christian 
Civilization.— Social  as  well  as  individual  regeneration  through  Christianity. 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES 
OF  REVEALED  EELIGION 


THE   SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES   OP 
REVEALED   RELIGION 

I 

THE  LOGICAL  NATURE  OF  THE    SCIENTIFIC   EVIDENCE 

After  the  lapse  of  nineteen  centuries  the  Christian 
religion  is  again  on  the  defensive.  In  the  present  in- 
stance it  has  been  driven  to  its  defences  by  an  assault 
more  desperate  than  any  it  has  ever  before  sustained. 
It  is  an  assault  made  falsely  in  the  name  of  Science  and 
with  scientific  weapons.  The  assailants  have  arrayed 
against  it  those  bodies  of  human  knowledge  which  are 
most  certain  in  their  nature  and  popular  in  their  im- 
pression. Astronomy,  they  tell  us,  now  declares  no 
other  glory  in  the  heavens  than  that  of  Newton,  La 
Place,  and  other  discoverers  of  their  laws.  Geology  has 
shown  us  that  the  earth  was  not  created  in  six  days,  but 
has  been  self-evolved  through  unmeasured  time.  An- 
thropology is  teaching  us  that  man  was  not  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  but  emerged  in  the  likeness  of  an  ape. 
The  other,  higher  sciences,  psychology,  sociology,  com- 
parative religion,  they  assure  us,  are  taking  a  like 
offensive  bearing  against  the  ethical  and  religious  teach- 
ing of  the  Bible.  And  to  all  these  successive  attacks,  it 
is  claimed  that  the  Christian  religion  has  offered  but 
a  feeble  and  ineffectual  resistance  ;  that  it  has  hither- 
to retreated  before  every  advance  of  scieijce ;  that  its 


2  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

miraculous  evidences  have  already  been  reduced  to 
mere  myths  and  legends ;  that  its  most  essential  doc- 
trines are  being  steadily  undermined  by  scientific  re- 
search ;  and  that  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  it 
shall  be  left  without  any  defence  and  without  anything 
worth  defending. 

Present  Scientific  Crisis. 

At  such  a  crisis  it  would  be  idle  to  disguise  the  fact 
that  the  defenders  of  the  Faith  are  not  presenting  an 
unbroken  front  to  its  assailants.  The  line  of  defence 
may  be  firm  at  the  centre,  but  at  the  extremes  it  is  un- 
equal. At  the  extreme  left  appears  the  new  school  of 
biblical  critics,  conceding,  step  by  step,  the  ground  in- 
vaded in  the  name  of  science.  For  the  avoAved  interest 
of  Christian  truth  they  are  admitting  that  the  Bible 
teaches  false  astronomy,  false  geology,  false  anthropol- 
ogy, even  defective  ethics  and  theology,  and  now  that 
all  that  remains  to  be  contended  for  in  Holy  Scripture 
is  a  certain  essential  faith  to  be  somehow  distilled  from 
its  errors  by  means  of  learned  criticism,  or  perhaps 
new  dogmatic  definitions  by  the  Church.  At  the  ex- 
treme right  remains  the  elder  school  of  biblical  students, 
denouncing  such  concession  as  weakness  or  treachery. 
Taking  their  stand  on  the  Canonical  Scriptures  with 
the  doctrine  of  plenary  inspiration  they  are  insisting 
that  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  is  to  be  held  true  in 
astronomy,  in  geology,  in  anthropology,  no  less  than  in 
ethics  and  theology,  and  that  the  whole  book,  without 
a  show  of  compromise,  must  be  maintained  as  contain- 
ing and  being  the  very  Word  of  God  written.  Mean- 
while, those  who  stand  at  the  centre  between  these  ex- 
tremes, can  see  that,  if  the  right  wing  has  been  too 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  3 

rashly  advanced,  yet  the  left  wing  has  already  wavered 
and  broken  away,  with  banners  trailing  in  the  dust, 
amid  the  exultation  and  derision  of  their  foes  and  the 
indignation  and  dismay  of  their  friends. 

Duty  of  United  Defence, 

Now  while  it  is  our  duty  to  repel  all  assailants  of  re- 
vealed religion,  it  is  also  plainly  our  duty,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  make  common  cause  wdth  all  its  defenders. 
We  should  endeavor  to  stand  wdtli  and  stand  by  even 
those  apologetes  who  may  seem  to  us  mistaken  or  mis- 
guided. If  we  may,  if  we  can,  we  should  rally  them 
back  to  positions  which  perhaps  they  have  too  hastily 
deserted.  For  the  sake  of  that  Book  wdiich  is  the 
source  of  our  common  Christianity  and  civilization, 
and  for  the  sake  of  that  Church  which  originally  pro- 
duced it  and  has  faithfully  kept  it  through  the  ages  and 
triumphantly  borne  it  as  a  standard  never  low^ered  be- 
fore any  foe,  we  cannot  but  beg  them  to  keep  in  line  as 
true  defenders  and  not  as  mere  critics  of  the  AVord  of 
God.  To  this  end,  speaking  for  myself,  I  would  hope 
to  complement  their  opinions  instead  of  antagonizing 
them,  and  seek  to  conserve  all  that  is  just  and  sound  in 
their  authorities  and  methods.  If  they  have  read  with 
admiration  Dr.  Draper's  "History  of  the  Conflict  be- 
tween Science  and  Keligion,"  I  would  remind  them  that 
there  is  another  counterpart  history,  which  Dr.  Draper 
did  not  write,  of  that  true  religion  and  true  science,  be- 
tween which  there  never  has  been  and  never  can  be  any 
conflict.  If  they  have  been  charmed  with  the  scholarly 
pages  of  Dr.  Andrew  White's  "  Warfare  of  Science  with 
Theology,"  I  would  remind  them  that  Dr.  White  does 


4  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

not  show  that  scieuce  has  ever  waged  warfare  with  re- 
vealed religion,  but  only  with  some  theological  dogma 
or  tenet  which  has  usurped  the  authority  of  revelation 
or  invaded  the  sphere  of  science.  If  they  have  followed 
our  learned  brother  Dr.  Briggs  in  his  luminous  ''  Bibli- 
cal Studies  "  so  far  as  to  look  for  scientific  errors  in  the 
Bible,  I  w^ould  remind  them  that  Dr.  Briggs  himself  has 
found  some  scientific  truths  in  the  Bible,  and  that  it  is 
not  even  thinkable  that  its  divine  Author  could  have  re- 
vealed anything  contrary  to  the  most  advanced  human 
science.  In  a  word,  if  they  are  beginning  to  fear  that 
modern  science  casts  some  doubt  or  discredit  upon  the 
traditional  Christian  Evidences,  as  they  figure  in  our 
standard  treatises,  I  would  invite  them  to  consider  an- 
other class  of  evidences,  which  modern  science  itself  is 
affording,  and  which,  in  the  strictest  sense,  deserves  to 
be  called  pre-eminently  the  Scientific  Evidences  of  Be- 
vealed  Beligion. 

Here  let  me  say  that  the  honor  of  being  invited  to 
give  these  lectures  touches  me  with  some  feeling  of 
embarrassment.  I  cannot  forget  that  I  have  come  as 
a  comparative  stranger  to  a  renowned  seat  of  sacred 
learning,  whither  the  most  gifted  sons  of  the  Church 
have  been  bringing  their  scholarly  tributes  ;  and  it  may 
even  seem  that  I  have  chosen  a  theme  which  had  bet- 
ter been  left  in  the  practiced  hand  of  a  learned  Pro- 
fessor within  whose  province  it  falls.  I  am  reassured, 
however,  when  I  remember  that  every  lecturer  upon 
the  Paddock  foundation  may  be  supposed  to  contribute 
something  of  his  own,  however  humble,  to  its  noble 
objects ;  and  that  the  wide  field  of  Christian  Evidence 
in  our  day  calls  for  many  laborers  and  much  special 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  5 

research,  especially  in  that  section  of  the  field  embraced 
within  the  relations  of  science  and  religion,  to  which  I 
am  devoted.  I  have  therefore  thought  I  could  not 
better  serve  the  ends  of  this  Lectureship  and  show  a 
due  appreciation  of  my  present  position  than  by  bring- 
ing with  me  the  fruits  of  some  life-long  studies  in  de- 
fence of  the  Christian  and  Catholic  Faith. 

The  Netv  Scientific  Evidence, 

The  general  evidences  of  Kevealed  Keligion  date 
from  its  very  origin,  and  have  been  accumulating  for 
thousands  of  years.  Before  the  Christian  era,  they 
served  practically  to  distinguish  the  true  revealed  re- 
ligion from  the  false  natural  religions  of  the  ancient 
world.  Since  the  Christian  era,  after  coming  in  contact 
with  gentile  culture,  they  have  assumed  logical  form  as 
a  growing  body  of  proof,  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation  through  nearly  twenty  centuries  of  time. 
It  will  be  found  that  each  age  or  critical  period  of  civ- 
ilization has  had  some  peculiar  conflict  with  Christian- 
ity, and  as  the  result  some  issuing  contribution  to  its 
evidences.  Its  successive  conflicts — first  Avith  Judaism 
in  the  life  of  our  Lord  ;  then  with  Paganism  in  the  age 
of  the  Apostles ;  then  with  philosophy  in  the  age  of 
the  Church  fathers  ;  then  with  Mohammedanism  in  the 
age  of  the  schoolmen;  then  with  Italian  naturalism, 
English  deism,  French  atheism,  and  German  rationalism 
since  the  age  of  the  Reformers — have  yielded  vast 
masses  of  evidence,  much  of  which  is  stowed  away  in 
its  apologetic  literature  as  the  logical  trophies  of  its 
conquering  march  through  the  centuries.  In  like  man- 
ner in  this  pre-eminently  scientific  age  we  are  involved 


6  EVIDENCES   OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

in  a  seeming  conflict  between  science  and  tlie  Bible, 
with  its  issuing  contribution  of  Scientific  Evidence. 

The  origin  of  the  Scientific  Evidence,  as  we  know  it, 
dates  from  the  time  of  the  Eeformation,  which  inchided 
a  revival  of  Science  as  well  as  of  Eeligion.  It  is  true 
that  in  the  first  Christian  age  there  were  some  prelu- 
sive strifes  between  Greek  philosophy  and  the  theology 
of  the  Church  fathers,  but  the  issue  w^as  a  mere  con- 
quered peace  which  was  false  and  premature.  It  is 
true,  also,  that  in  the  middle  ages  a  few  enlightened 
schoolmen  asserted  the  rights  of  free  scientific  inquiry, 
but  their  efforts  seemed  only  to  strengthen  an  ecclesias- 
tical and  dogmatic  bondage  which  was  becoming  intol- 
erable. It  was  not  until  the  Reformation  had  liberated 
both  religion  and  science  that  they  both  sprang  at  once 
into  new  relations,  sometimes  hostile,  sometimes  indif- 
ferent, but  often  friendly  and  fruitful.  Pre-eminent 
among  the  forerunners  and  leaders  of  the  last  named 
harmonizing  movement,  stands  the  great  apologete, 
Bishop  Butler.  In  a  former  lecture,"^  which  I  had  the 
honor  of  presenting  to  this  Seminary,  I  claimed  for 
Bishop  Butler  the  singular  merit  of  having  contributed 
to  the  General  Evidence  of  Eevealed  Religion  the  be- 
ginnings of  that  Scientific  Evidence  which  is  peculiar  to 
our  epoch.  It  was  shown  that  he  made  this  contribution 
by  conceiving  religious  problems  in  a  thoroughly  scien- 
tific spirit ;  by  applying  to  them  the  scientific  method 
known  as  the  inductive  logic ;  by  laying  a  logical  foun- 
dation for  the  harmony  of  Science  and  revelation  in  the 
analogy  of  nature  and  religion ;  by  enunciating  prin- 
ciples applicable  in  the  Scientific  interpretation  of  the 
Bible;  by  giving  prescient  hints  of  a  coming  agree- 
*  See  Lecture  VI.  in  this  volume. 


NATURE  OF  SGIENTIFIG  EVIDENCE  7 

inent  of  the  Bible  with  Science  and  consequent  growing 
proof  of  Christianity  ;  and  by  building  up,  albeit  un- 
consciously, a  substantial  part  of  the  philosophic  struct- 
ure of  Science  itself.  Without  renewing  these  discus- 
sions I  pass  at  once  to  our  next  topic,  the  logical 
nature  of  the  Scientific  Evidence. 

Its  Logical  Premises. 

As  all  reasonable  evidence  involves  facts  or  princi- 
ples upon  which  it  is  based  and  from  which  it  proceeds, 
we  need  to  define  clearly,  if  but  briefly,  the  premises  of 
Christian  Evidence  in  general,  but  especially  the  evi- 
dence before  us.  In  the  first  place,  since  there  could  be 
no  revelation  without  a  God  to  reveal,  we  must  assume, 
not  indeed  as  unproved,  but  as  at  least  provable,  some 
theistic  theory  of  the  world  as  affording  the  conditions 
of  intelligent  communication  between  the  absolute  rea- 
son of  God  and  the  finite  reason  of  man.  The  sceptical 
philosopher  who  regards  Jehova  as  a  mere  mythical  per- 
sonage, like  Jupiter,  or  a  bare  abstraction  termed  the 
Unknowable,  would  simply  make  a  revelation  metaphys- 
ically impossible  or  logically  inconceivable.  But,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  nearly  all  schools  of  thinkers,  even  some 
agnostics,  allow  a  theory  of  absolute  being,  more  or  less 
consistent  with  the  idea  of  revelation.  Theism  in  some 
form  underlies  the  best  thought  and  belief  of  mankind, 
and  in  starting  with  theism  we  take  ground  common 
alike  to  philosophy  and  religion. 

Besides  this  universal  tenet,  we  must  still  further 
assume,  as  in  the  process  of  proof,  the  existence  of  a 
divine  revelation  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  evidence 
of  this  revelation,  as  we  have  said,  has  been  accumulat- 


8  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

ing  for  ages  until  now  it  amounts  to  the  highest  prob- 
ability in  many  minds,  and  in  some  minds  to  moral  cer- 
tainty itself.  It  has  been  tested  by  the  searching  criticism 
of  each  successive  generation ;  and  it  equals  the  best- 
reasoned  science  in  the  kind  if  not  in  the  degree  of  its 
certitude.  The  burden  of  disproving  it  rests  upon  the 
objector  to  it.  If  it  is  to  be  hereafter  called  in  ques- 
tion at  every  step  of  this  inquiry,  we  shall  only  be  ever 
returning  upon  our  own  path  and  make  little  or  no  prog- 
ress toward  any  good  result.  Rather  let  it  be  our  aim 
to  advance  with  and  beyond  the  Miraculous,  Propheti- 
cal, and  Historical  evidences  of  former  ages,  to  the  new 
Scientific  evidence  of  our  own  day. 

As  a  third  premise,  it  is  quite  logical  to  assume  the 
integrity  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  as  containing 
divine  revelation  in  distinction  from  all  other  sacred 
writings.  It  is  more  than  twenty  centuries  since  the 
Old  Testament  Canon  was  closed,  and  about  fifteen 
centuries  since  the  completion  of  the  New  Testament 
Canon.  During  all  that  time  the  consent  of  Christen- 
dom in  them  both  has  been  practically  unanimous.  The 
genuineness  of  the  sacred  books  w^ould  seem  fairly  pre- 
sumable. While  free  discussions  of  the  canonicity  of  each 
book  may  still  be  allowable  and  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance among  expert  scholars  and  divines,  who  are  spe- 
cially fitted  and  called  to  purge  the  Canon  from  spurious 
ingredients,  yet  if  we  admit  them  rashly  and  crudely 
into  our  popular  lectures  and  treatises  we  shall  only  be 
perpetually  tearing  up  the  foundations  upon  which  we 
are  trying  to  build.  As  an  oriental  scholar,  you  may 
endeavor  to  trace  all  the  sacred  books  of  the  East,  in- 
cluding the  Bible,  to  a  primitive  tradition  or  universal 
revelation,  but  it  is  still  a  fact  that  the  maxims  of  Con- 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  9 

fucius  or  the  Zend-Avesta  were  not  included  within  the 
Canon.  As  a  Church  antiquarian,  you  may  value 
highly  the  apocryphal  and  patristic  writings  which 
were  discarded  after  full  trial ;  but  the  Book  of  Tobit 
or  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  has  not  been  restored  to  the 
Canon.  As  a  Christian  thinker,  you  may  believe  that 
devout  genius  differs  only  in  degree  from  divine  inspi- 
ration ;  but  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ  "  or  the  "  Paradise 
Lost  "  has  not  yet  been  exalted  into  the  Canon.  As  a 
Biblical  critic,  you  may  doubt  the  inspiration  of  some 
of  the  Sacred  Books,  but  the  Song  of  Solomon  or  the 
Epistle  of  Saint  James  has  not  been  ruled  out  of  the 
Canon.  Whatever  may  be  your  private  opinions  on 
such  points,  yet  as  a  loyal  Churchman,  to  say  the  least, 
you  will  accept  the  Canon  as  it  stands  and  find  in  it  the 
written  Word  of  God.  Some  things  may  be  considered 
as  settled  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Christian  ages  and  the 
general  consent  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Popular  Fallacies, 

After  thus  defining  the  premises  of  the  new  Evidence 
as  including  theism,  a  revelation,  and  the  Canon,  it  be- 
comes important  next  to  repel  certain  fallacies  which 
assail  it  at  the  present  time  and  may  thwart  its  direct 
and  full  effect  upon  the  mind.  These  fallacies  should 
be  challenged  at  the  threshold,  not,  as  I  have  said,  with 
the  view  of  offending  any  apologists  who  may  practise 
them,  but  simply  to  clear  away  all  rubbish  from  the 
common  ground  where  we  are  to  stand  together  in  de- 
fence of  the  Faith.  I  shall  state  them  in  the  popular 
form  under  which  they  have  become  current. 

The  first  fallacy  relates  to  the  aim  and  scope  of  reve- 


10  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

lation.  It  is  expressed  in  the  dictum,  '*  The  Bible  was 
designed  to  teach  nothing  but  religion  and  morals." 
This  is  a  specious  sophism.  That  the  Scriptures  prin- 
cipally teach  matters  of  faith  and  duty  lying  within  the 
realm  of  theology  is  obvious  enough  ;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  they  may  not  also,  incidentally  and  second- 
arily, teach  some  other  matters  lying  within  the  realm 
of  other  sciences.  The  fallacy  is  false  in  its  premise, 
false  in  its  process,  and  false  in  its  product. 

The  Bible  as  Prejudged, 

Its  premise  is  a  masked  form  of  rationalistic  prejudg- 
ment. Bishop  Butler,  while  ever  commending  reason 
as  our  only  faculty  for  judging  anything,  even  revela- 
tion itself,  is  careful  to  make  reason  a  critic  only  of  the 
evidences  of  revelation,  not  of  its  contents ;  and  he  has 
a  masterly  chapter  on  ''  Our  incapacity  of  judging  what 
were  to  be  expected  in  a  Bevelation."  In  the  nature  of 
the  case,  the  aims  and  topics  of  any  divine  communica- 
tion lie  beyond  the  reach  of  human  faculties.  A  Reve- 
lation, in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word,  implies  our  pre- 
vious ignorance  of  its  whole  purpose  and  purport.  If 
we  could  know  a  priori  what  the  Bible  should  teach 
us  and  how  it  should  teach  us,  we  should  need  no  Bible 
at  all,  and  we  might  soon  prove  that  the  one  we  have  is 
not  worth  having  if  we  approach  it  in  this  sj^irit.  Such 
prejudgment,  moreover,  may  become  not  merely  irrev- 
erent, but  irrational.  It  is  as  unphilosophical  to  pre- 
judge the  phenomena  of  Scripture  as  the  phenomena  of 
Nature  ;  to  prescribe  the  course  of  revelation  as  the 
course  of  science.  Experience  has  shown,  as  Butler 
proves,  that  in  either  case  we  are  liable  to  infinite  mis- 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  11 

takes  ;  and  especially  in  the  latter  case,  that  we  could 
not  even  furnish  a  good  inventory  of  the  wants  which  a 
revelation  should  supply.  Men  have  absurdly  hoped  to 
find  in  the  Bible  exact  rules  of  life  and  business,  full 
political  codes,  elaborate  systems  of  divinity,  precise 
information  concerning  the  future  life,  a  panacea  for 
bodily  ills,  a  talisman  against  harm,  a  fortune-book  to 
conjure  with,  in  short  almost  anything  that  it  does  not 
contain.  And  we  are  quite  as  likely  to  preclude  from  it 
what  it  does  contain.  It  is  but  a  truism  to  say  that  the 
Bible  was  designed  to  teach  simply  what  it  is  found  to 
teach.  And  if  it  is  found  to  teach  geological  truth  in 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  as  well  as  theological  truth 
in  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John,  we  can  only  infer  that  it 
was  designed  to  teach  such  truth  in  each  instance.  In 
a  word,  the  design  and  full  purport  of  Holy  Scripture 
are  not  the  proper  problems  of  Introductory  Criticism, 
but  are  simply  questions  of  devout  Exegesis  ;  and  the 
very  last  questions  rather  than  the  first.  Not  until  we 
have  thoroughly  studied  the  Bible  in  all  its  actual  con- 
tents and  possible  relations  can  we  affirm  that  it  was 
never  designed  to  teach  scientific  as  well  as  religious 
facts  and  truth. 

The  Bible  as  Mutilated. 

But  the  sophism  before  us  is  as  fallacious  in  its  pro- 
cedure as  in  its  premise.  Sometimes,  instead  of  starting 
as  a  prejudgment,  it  claims  to  have  been  a  sort  of  gen- 
eralization on  the  face  of  the  Bible,  to  the  effect  that  it 
is  manifestly  a  book  of  religion  and  morals,  and  there- 
fore teaches  nothing  else.  Very  soon,  however,  this 
mere  crude  generalization  becomes  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion, to  which  all  the  contents  of  Scripture  are  thence- 


12  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

forth  to  be  adjusted.  As  superficial  investigators  will 
choose  the  facts  of  Nature,  so  they  will  choose  the  texts 
of  Scripture,  to  suit  their  favorite  hypothesis,  while  ig- 
noring or  distorting  all  the  rest.  And  the  worst  of  the 
mistake  is,  that  the  hypothesis  often  contains  a  large 
amount  of  truth  with  its  error,  and  explains  many  of  the 
relevant  facts,  though  not  all  of  them.  In  this  way, 
good  men,  from  the  best  motives,  in  order  to  exalt  the 
religious  teaching  of  the  Bible,  will  wholly  neglect  or 
reject  its  physical  teaching  as  connected  therewith. 
Selecting  certain  portions  of  Scripture  supposed  to  be 
purely  ethical  and  theological  in  their  purport,  they 
will  disparage  all  remaining  portions  as  unimportant  or 
quite  worthless,  because  astronomical,  geological,  or  his- 
torical in  their  bearing.  And  having  thus  exscinded  sci- 
entific truths,  they  will  go  on  to  mutilate  religious  truths, 
culling  proof  texts  around  their  favorite  tenets,  Calvinis- 
tic  or  Arminian,  Baptist  or  Methodist,  Presbyterian  or 
Episcopalian,  Protestant  or  Catholic,  until  the  only  di- 
vine standard  of  unity  is  made  a  source  of  endless  dis- 
sension throughout  Christendom. 

"  This  is  the  Book  where  each  his  dogma  seeks, 
And  this  the  Book  where  each  his  dogma  finds." 

In  short,  the  fallacy  before  us,  as  applied  in  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  tends  to  narrow  its  scope  even  as  a  book  of 
religion  and  morals. 


Tlie  Bible  as  Ignored. 

A  mutilated  Bible  can  only  bring  cumulative  evils  in 
its  train.  It  is  not  strange  therefore  that  reasoning  so 
false  in  its  premise  and  in  its  process  should  be  also 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  13 

false  in  its  product.  Not  only  are  the  Holy  Scriptures 
marred  and  wrested  by  its  unscientific  treatment  of  their 
phenomena  ;  but  it  engenders  a  growing  breach  between 
divine  knowledge  and  human  knowledge,  with  an  issuing 
conflict  of  opinions  and  interests  in  every  region  of  civ- 
ilization. History  shows  us  that  if  we  may  err  by  seek- 
ing too  much  in  the  Bible,  we  may  also  err  by  finding 
too  little  in  it.  Time  was  when  the  former  error  pre- 
vailed. Revelation  was  claimed  as  the  ancient  fountain 
of  all  knowledge  both  in  Pagan  and  in  Christian  philos- 
ophy. The  whole  cyclopaedia  of  the  natural  sciences 
was  derived  from  Genesis,  the  Book  of  Job,  and  the 
Psalms,  with  their  so-called  Mosaical  Mathematics,  Script- 
ure Geology,  Biblical  Physics,  Sacred  Zoology,  and  all 
the  rest.  And  by  consequence  religion  itself  became 
allied  with  superstition  and  conceit,  while  science  was 
enslaved  and  philosophy  degraded.  But  ever  since  the 
Reformation  we  have  been  reacting  toward  the  other 
extreme  of  finding  too  little  in  the  Bible.  The  springs 
of  all  philosophy  are  now  sought  outside  of  revelation 
in  the  mere  human  reason  alone.  Great  Christian 
thinkers  in  our  day  no  longer  feel  their  intellectual 
need  of  a  revelation  in  framing  their  theories  of  knowl- 
edge and  systems  of  science  as  they  may  still  feel 
their  spiritual  need  of  it  in  moulding  their  faith  and 
practice.  Imagine  such  thinkers  standing  with  St.  Paul 
before  the  Athenian  altar  to  the  Unknown  God !  Then, 
imagine  his  trenchant  challenge,  "  Whom  ye  ignorantly 
worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you  !  " 

And  the  result  is  that  the  natural  sciences  are  now 
openly  detached  from  Holy  Scripture,  if  not  arrayed 
against  it,  as  no  longer  consistent  with  its  teachings.  It 
is  to  be  held  as  important  in  its  theology  and  ethics,  but 


14  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

worthless  in  its  astronomy,  geology,  and  j)liysics.  Even 
the  higher  psychical  sciences  are  beginning  to  assert  a 
like  independence  in  the  form  of  a  naturalistic  ethic,  and 
a  comparative  theology  or  science  of  religions  divested 
of  miracle  and  prophecy  and  discharged  of  all  Scriptural 
ideas.  Let  the  breach  go  on,  and  the  whole  circle  of 
the  sciences  will  break  into  mere  splendid  fragments  of 
knowledge,  philosophy  will  sink  into  hopeless  nescience 
and  unbelief,  and  the  discredited  Bible  will  become  the 
jest  of  the  pulpit  as  well  as  of  the  club  and  the  newspa- 
per ;  no  better  than  was  the  derided  oracle,  or  augury, 
amid  the  decaying  culture  of  Greece  and  Eome. 

The  True  Scope  of  Revelation, 

It  is  plain  that  such  evils  can  be  checked  only  by 
taking  a  new  point  of  departure  and  changing  the  entire 
mode  of  procedure ;  by  approaching  Holy  Scripture  as 
containing  an  attested  and  accepted  revelation  ;  by  sub- 
mitting our  human  reason  to  the  dictates  of  the  divine 
reason  in  the  divine  Word,  with  at  least  as  much  docil- 
ity, j)atience,  and  candor  as  we  practise  in  a  scientific 
inquiry  in  the  realm  of  Nature ;  by  laying  aside  all  pre- 
possessions as  to  its  aims  and  uses,  and  keejoing  our- 
selves within  its  own  divinely  prescribed  limits;  and 
there  awaiting  a  full  inductive  investigation  of  its  con- 
'  tents.  Such  an  investigation  will  show  that,  while  the 
Bible  mainly  traverses  the  realm  of  the  mental  and 
moral  sciences  with  its  revelations,  yet  it  also  extends 
into  the  realm  of  the  natural  sciences,  and  includes  more 
or  less  of  their  ground  and  material  within  the  scope  of 
its  teaching.  It  thus  includes  astronomy  in  connection 
with  its  revealed  doctrine  of  creation  and  the  angels ; 


NATURE  OF  3GIENTIFI0  EVIDENCE  15 

geology  in  connection  with  its  revealed  doctrine  of  the 
Sabbath  and  of  the  old  and  the  new  earth ;  anthropol- 
ogy in  connection  with  its  revealed  doctrine  of  the  First 
and  the  Second  Adam ;  psychology  in  connection  with 
its  revealed  doctrine  of  regeneration  and  resurrection  ; 
sociology  in  connection  with  its  revealed  doctrine  of 
Christian  brotherhood  and  the  Church ;  and  the  science 
of  comparative  religion  in  connection  with  its  most  pe- 
culiar doctrines,  the  incarnation,  the  trinity,  and  the 
atonement.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  science  which  is  not 
more  or  less  included  within  the  scope  of  revelation  as 
found  in  the  Scriptures. 

Alleged  Scientific  Errors, 

Another  popular  fallacy  relates  to  the  content  of 
revelation.  We  now  hear  it  said  on  all  sides,  "  The 
Bible  contains  scientific  errors  in  dictinction  from  its 
religious  truths."  The  dictum,  as  often  joined  to  the 
before-mentioned  fallacy,  becomes  mere  reasoning  in  a 
circle  and  begging  of  the  question.  At  one  time  it  is 
assumed,  as  a  sort  of  axiom,  that  the  Bible  was  not 
designed  to  teach  scientific  truth,  and  thence  inferred 
that  its  scientific  teaching  is  erroneous.  At  another 
time  it  is  assumed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  its  scientific 
teaching  is  erroneous,  and  thence  inferred  that  it  was 
never  designed  to  teach  scientific  truth.  And  so  with 
each  return  of  the  circle  the  fallacy  grows,  that  the  Bible 
contains  scientific  errors.  We  can  only  escape  from  the 
vicious  circle  by  thoroughly  testing  its  covert  assump- 
tions.* 

*This  question  is  more  fully  discussed  hereafter  in  the  paper  (VII.) 
on  "The  Alleged  Scientific  Errors  of  the  Bible." 


16  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 


A  Questionable  Theory, 

At  the  first  glance,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  based  upon 
a  questionable  theory  of  inspiration.     It  assumes  that 
the  divine  guidance  of  the  sacred  writers  was  limited 
and  variable,  so  limited  as  to  make  them  inerrant  only 
in  religious  matters,  but  in  all  other  matters,  especially 
scientific  matters,  to  leave  them  exposed  to  their  own 
erring  faculties  and  to  the  errors  of  the  unscientific 
ages  in  which  they  lived  and  wrote.     This  theory  of  in- 
spiration  is   held   by   reverent    minds   from   the   best 
motives.     It  would  loyally  exalt  religious  truth  over  all 
scientific  truth  in  importance,  and  judiciously  separate 
the  essential  Word  of  God  from  a  supposed  erroneous 
book  which  merely  envelops  and  contains  it.     Unfor- 
tunately, however,  it  not  only  prejudges  the  pui-port  of 
revelation,  but  proposes  a  false  discrimination  between 
/'scientific  Scripture   and   religious   Scripture   which   is 
simply  impossible,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  all  relig- 
ious truths  involve  some  scientific  facts,  and  all  scientific 
facts  involve  some  religious  truths,  in  endless  complex- 
i  ity.   Moreover  the  inspired  writers  themselves  never  thus 
discriminate  between  the  divine  teaching  in  different 
spheres  of  human  interest.     Nor  can  such  discrimina- 
tion be  made  by  any  devout  exegete.     Logically,  if  not 
morally,  we  are  as  much  bound  by  the  geological  writ- 
\  ings  of  Moses  as  by  the  theological  writings  of  St.  Paul, 
\  even  though  we  should  like  neither  or  think  one  less 
j  important  than  the  other.     In   point   of   fact,  as  will 
'  hereafter  be  more  fully  shown,  each  kind  of  truth  is  im- 
portant in  its  own  time  and  place,  and  both  are  so  im- 
plicated and  combined  in  the  Biblical  system  that  they 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  17 

must  stand  or  fall  together  as  in  a  massive  arch  which, 
if  any  segment  be  removed,  would  tumble  into  ruins. 

The  Fallacy  Proves  too  Little, 

But  besides  thus  sheathing  a  mere  assumption, 
the  fallacy  before  us  is  a  sword  which  will  cut  both 
ways.  It  will  prove  too  little  or  too  much  according  to 
the  strictness  with  which  it  is  applied.  It  will  prove  too  i 
little,  if  the  meaning  merely  be  that  the  Bible  does  not 
teach  science,  nor  use  the  technical  phrase  of  science,  / 
but  couches  its  revelations  in  the  language  of  appear- 
ance common  to  all  men  in  all  ages,  though  not  always 
scientifically  accurate.  Its  astronomy  thus  speaks  of  a ' 
sunrise  and  sunset.  Its  geology  describes  the  earth  as 
made  in  six  days,  each  with  a  morning  and  an  evening. 
Its  anthropology  depicts  man  as  formed  out  of  the 
ground  like  a  clay  image.  Its  historiography  has  seem- 
ing discrepancies  as  to  events,  dates,  and  numbers. 
And  it  also  contains  allegories,  parables,  and  other  liter- 
ary forms  which  lack  scientific  exactness.  Let  such  in- 
accuracies or  discrepancies  be  accounted  as  errors,  and 
every  scientific  text-book  will  be  found  full  of  them.  In 
fact  no  book  could  possibly  be  written  without  them. 
The  Bible,  considering  its  antiquity,  is  remarkably  free 
from  them.  Many  of  them  can  be  readily  explained. 
But  even  granting  all  of  them,  any  list  of  them  that  has 
ever  been  made  would  appear  as  mere  specks  in  the 
pure  marble  of  its  shrine  or  spots  upon  its  sun  of  truth. 


18  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIQION 


The  Catholic  Doctrine, 

It  may  be  well  to  observe,  in  passing,  that  this  is  no 
mere  Protestant  invention  or  new  Presbyterian  tenet ; 
it  is  Catholic  doctrine.  Fifteen  centuries  ago  said  St. 
Augustine :  "  To  those  books  which  are  already  styled 
canonical  I  have  learned  to  pay  such  reverence  and 
honor  as  most  firmly  to  believe  that  none  of  their 
authors  has  committed  any  error  in  writing.  If  in  that 
literature  I  meet  with  anything  that  seems  contrary  to 
truth,  I  will  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  only  the  manuscript 
which  is  faulty,  or  the  translator  who  has  not  hit  the 
sense,  or  my  own  failure  to  understand  it."  The  Greek 
Church  fathers,  as  well  as  the  Latin  schoolmen,  em- 
phatically deny  the  possibility  of  errors  in  the  Canon- 
ical Scriptures.  The  Roman  Church  has  simply  exalted 
the  pope  as  an  infallible  interpreter  of  the  infallible 
Bible.  The  Anglican  Articles  admit  that  Churches  have 
erred,  but  not  that  the  Scriptures  have  erred,  leaving 
that  point  undefined.  And  though  it  be  true,  that  the 
first  Protestants  held  the  Bible  to  be  infallible,  yet  it 
is  also  true  that  the  fallibility  of  the  Bible  is  largely  a 
notion  of  Protestant  growth;  and  has  become  one  of 
the  extreme  issues  of  the  Reformation.  In  opposition 
to  all  past  catholic  teaching,  some  Christian  writers  in 
our  day  are  maintaining,  not  only  that  the  Church  is 
fallible,  but  that  the  Bible  is  fallible,  and  that  the  in- 
dividual reason  is  practically  an  infallible  interpreter 
and  judge  both  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Church. 
The  result  is  that  certain  textual  and  literary  difficul- 
ties which  have  long  been  known  within  the  circle  of 
Christian    scholars   are    now    bruited    abroad    in   the 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  19 

Church  as  proofs  of  a  general  errancy  of  the  inspired 
writings.^ 

The  Fallacy  may  Prove  too  Much. 

We  have  seen  that  the  fallacy  before  ns  proves  so 
little  of  biblical  error,  in  one  view,  as  to  prove  scarcely 
any  at  all,  at  least  none  of  a  scientific  nature.  But  it 
will  prove  entirely  too  much,  if  it  is  consistently  and 
thoroughly  applied,  and  the  lack  of  scientific  phrase 
and  accuracy  is  not  confined  to  the  phj^sical  realm  of 
revelation,  but  as  rigorously  extended  throughout  its 
spiritual  realm.  The  Bible  no  more  teaches  the  science 
of  theology  than  any  other  science,  and  its  anthropo- 
morphism in  the  one  sphere  is  quite  as  unscientific  as 
its  phenomenalism  in  the  other.  If  it  be  an  error  to 
say  that  the  sun  rises  and  sets,  then  it  is  an  error  to  say 
that  Jehovah  hath  his  throne  in  the  heavens  and  thun- 
dereth  marvellously  with  his  voice.  If  it  be  an  error  to 
say  that  in  six  days  Jehovah  made  heaven  and  earth, 
then  it  is  an  error  to  say  that  one  day  is  with  Jehovah 
as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day. 
If  it  be  an  error  to  say  that  Jehovah  formed  man  out  of 
the  ground,  in  the  image  of  God,  then  it  is  an  error  to 
say  that  Jehovah  repented  that  He  had  made  man  and 
cursed  the  ground  for  his  sake.  And  such  theological 
errors  are  much  more  flagrant  than  such  astronomical 
or  geological  errors.  In  the  light  of  modern  culture, 
what  were  the  biblical  pictures  of  the  curtained  heavens, 
or  of  the  dramatic  week  of  creation,  as  compared  with 
the  biblical  picture  of  Jehovah  as  countenancing  slaugh- 

*  The  different  forms  of  infallibilism  are  more  fully  presented  and 
discussed  in  my  "  Philosophic  Ultima,"  vol  ii. ,  pp.  372-91. 


20  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

ter  and  slavery  and  polygamy,  or  as  a  jealous  God, 
angry  with  the  wicked  every  day,  and  holding  aloft  a 
cup  of  wrath  from  which  to  pour  out  famines  and  wars 
and  pestilences  over  the  earth  ? 

Approximate  Truths, 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  whole  fallacy  lies  in 
admitting  that  there  is  any  error  whatever  in  either 
class  of  statements.  The  so-called  errors  are  simply  ap- 
proximate truths  or  partial  revelations  adapted  to  a  rude 
age  and  people,  and  yet  to  be  completed  and  explained 
by  later  revelation  or  scientific  research.  The  gross  an- 
thropomorphism of  the  Old  Testament  was  thus  ex- 
plained by  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  consistently 
with  the  purer  and  fuller  theism  of  the  New  Testament. 
And  the  crude  phenomenalism  of  the  same  Scriptures 
has  been  likewise  explained,  and  is  now  used  consis- 
tently with  the  more  exact  and  complete  science  of  our 
day.  In  neither  case  was  any  error  once  committed ; 
in  neither  case  is  any  error  now  conveyed.  Men  still 
speak  truthfully,  as  they  always  have  spoken  truthfully, 
and  always  will  speak  truthfully  of  a  sunset  and  a  sun- 
rise which  are  apparent  physical  motions,  no  less  than 
of  a  wrath  and  a  love  of  God,  which  are  seeming  human 
passions. 

As  to  all  the  alleged  errors  of  the  Bible  within  the 
domain  of  religion  or  of  science,  it  is  enough  to  say  in 
general  that  they  appear  as  errors  only  when  detached 
from  their  proper  connection  in  the  Holy  Scriptures 
considered  as  a  gradual  revelation,  by  means  of  which 
the  chosen  races  of  mankind  have  been  educated  and 
developed,  from  the  rudiments  of  Judaism  to  the  doc- 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  21 

trines  of  Christianity,  and  from  primitive  barbarism  to 
modern  civilization.  And  as  to  the  alleged  scientific 
errors  in  particular,  it  should  further  be  said  that  they 
seem  precluded  by  the  fact  that  the  Author  of  Scripture 
is  also  the  Author  of  Nature,  and  any  seeming  contra- 
diction between  them  must  be  due  either  to  some  false 
induction  from  Nature  or  to  some  wrong  exegesis  of 
Scripture. 

A  Dangej'ous  Fallacy. 

It  will  be  seen  that  I  have  not  assumed  any  existing 
doctrine  of  inspiration,  plenary  or  limited,  verbal  or 
ideal ;  and  that  I  am  not  now  advocating  any  special 
theory  of  the  errancy  or  inerrancy  of  Holy  Scripture. 
I  am  simply  maintaining,  for  the  purpose  of  these 
Lectures,  that  those  who  do  hold  an  extreme  theory  of 
scientific  errancy  should  hold  it  consistently  and  take 
the  consequences.  They  must  be  prepared  to  hear  of 
error  in  the  religion  of  the  Bible  as  well  as  in  its  sci- 
ence ;  in  fact,  of  worse  error  in  its  religion  than  in  its 
science;  and,  also,  much  greater  evidence  of  its  relig- 
ious error  than  of  its  scientific  error.  Such  has  been 
the  actual,  as  well  as  logical  result  in  some  schools  of 
Christian  learning.  For  this  reason  it  is  very  unfor- 
tunate that  the  word  "  error"  has  become  so  current  in 
connection  with  the  sacred  writings.  As  applied  to 
their  mere  literary  imperfections,  or  seeming  inconsis- 
tencies, or  typical  rites  and  obsolete  precepts,  it  is  mis- 
leading. As  used  in  biblical  study  it  opens  the  door  to 
destructive  criticism ;  and  in  common  life  it  leads  to 
irreverence  and  unbelief.  Begin  by  admitting  error 
into  the  written  Word  of  God,  in  any  strict  sense  of  the 
word  "error,"  and  the  book  might  continue  interesting 


22  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

as  a  body  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  literature,  beautiful  as 
"a  well  of  English  undefiled,"  perhaps  instructive  as  a 
thesaurus  of  pious  themes  and  mottoes,  but  as  a  Canon, 
as  an  authoritative  rule  of  Christian  faith  and  practice, 
as  a  criterion  of  any  essential  truth,  it  would  become, 
sooner  or  later,  not  worth  the  paper  on  which  it  is 
printed.  Nor  will  an  intelligent  public  long  listen  to 
preachers  who  declare  their  very  texts  to  be  erroneous. 

The  Key-note  of  these  Lectures. 

The  only  just,  wise,  and  safe  position  for  us  to  take 
is,  that  while  our  human  interpretation  of  the  Script- 
ures is  always  fallible  and  often  errant,  as  we  know 
to  our  cost,  yet  the  divine  revelation  contained  in  the 
Scriptures,  so  far  as  ascertained  and  ascertainable,  can- 
not but  be  infallible  and  inerrant,  the  very  Word  of 
God. 

And  this  is  especially  the  true  position  to  take  in  re- 
gard to  the  relations  of  science  and  revealed  religion. 
The  Bible  is  neither  a  scientific  book  nor  an  anti- 
scientific  book.  It  does  not  teach  science,  nor  does  it 
teach  anything  contrary  to  science.  It  does  not  teach 
any  theories  in  astronomy,  geology,  and  other  sciences ; 
nor  does  it  teach  any  errors  in  astronomy,  geology,  and 
other  sciences.  On  the  contrary,  as  will  hereafter  be 
shown,  it  does  teach  some  astronomical,  geological,  and 
other  scientific  facts,  both  natural  and  supernatural,  and 
also  certain  extra-scientific  truths  or  revealed  doctrines 
which  are  logically  essential  to  the  sciences  themselves 
in  any  complete  philosophy  or  system  of  perfect  knowl- 
edge. This  is  the  key-note  of  the  folloAving  lectures ; 
and  the  proofs  of  it  will  accumulate  as  we  proceed. 


NATURE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  23 

The  whole  question  lias  a  practical  side  wliich  should 
not  be  forgotten.  As  "the  witness  and  keeper  of  Holy 
Writ,"  this  Church  is  distinguished  by  the  abundance  of 
Holy  Scripture  which  she  provides  in  her  liturgy.  The 
lessons,  psalms,  epistles,  and  gospels  read  in  a  single 
day  sometimes  exceed  the  amount  read  in  a  whole  week 
in  other  communions.  And  this  is  in  accordance  with 
apostolic  precept  and  divine  command.  St.  Paul  re- 
minded a  young  divinity  student  that  from  a  child  he 
had  known  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  are  able  to  make 
him  wise  unto  Salvation  and  to  render  the  man  of  God 
perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.  The 
same  Apostle  warned  him  as  a  custodian  of  the  Faith  to 
avoid  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so  called,  and  to  be- 
ware of  such  philosophy  as  is  vain  and  deceitful,  after 
the  rudiments  of  this  world  and  not  after  Christ. 


II 

THE    LOGICAL   VALUE    OF   THE    SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE 

We  approach  the  last  and  most  serious  of  the  popular 
fallacies  which  are  now  hindering  the  appreciation  and 
reception  of  the  scientific  evidence  of  revealed  religion. 
I  shall  crave  the  liberty  of  discussing  it  without  reserve 
and  with  that  directness  which  the  importance  of  the 
subject  demands.  If  I  do  not  carry  with  me  the  full 
consent  of  all  minds,  I  may  at  least  hope  to  stimulate 
inquiry  and  to  present  some  aspects  of  the  Biblical 
question  which  seem  to  have  been  forgotten  or  under- 
valued at  the  present  juncture  and  yet  are  needed  be- 
fore coming  to  a  final  judgment. 

The  two  fallacies  already  noticed  refer  to  the  scope 
and  to  the  content  of  revelation,  the  one  excluding 
scientific  truth  from  its  scope,  the  other  including 
scientific  error  in  its  content.  The  fallacy  now  to  come 
before  us  refers  to  the  form  of  revelation  and  tends  to 
depreciate  its  value.  We  meet  with  it  in  a  current 
phrase  everywhere  repeated  as  if  it  were  an  axiom : 
"  The  Bible  is  literature,  to  be  studied  as  we  study 
other  literature."  Having  been  charged  with  error  by 
some  of  its  own  friends,  perhaps  it  is  not  surprising  that 
it  should  sink  toward  the  level  of  mere  human  writings, 
or  that,  in  the  literary  excess  of  our  times,  it  should  be 
overrun  with  a  species  of  criticism  which  is  largely 
iesthetic,   sometimes  rhetorical  in  its  aim   and   spirit. 

24 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  25 

We  seem  threatened  with  "a  book  religion,"  in  a  new 
sense  of  the  phrase.  A  fresh  literary  interest  in  the 
Bible  pervades  even  the  secular  press.  One  might  al- 
most fancy  the  Book  had  lost  its  unique  sacredness  as  he 
hears  applied  to  it  the  technical  terms  once  confined  to 
the  productions  of  ordinary  literature,  and  reads  in  his 
morning  paper  of  Hebraic  myths  and  legends  and  Bibli- 
cal dramas  and  lyrics  and  idyls  and  the  rest.  I  am  not 
about  to  say  that  there  is  anything  positively  false  in 
this  phase  of  Biblical  study  or  that  it  is  not  in  itself  de- 
serving of  unstinted  praise  or  that  it  may  not  even  be  a 
healthy  symptom  in  the  present  diseased  state  of  opin- 
ion. I  would  simply  give  it  its  due  place  and  impor- 
tance, as  it  bears  upon  the  question  of  connecting  the 
Sciences  with  the  Bible  as  evidences  of  revealed  religion. 

The  Bible  diore  than  Mere  Literature. 

The  assertion  that  the  Bible  is  literature  is  true — but 
it  is  not  the  whole  truth.  The  Bible  is  more  than  mere 
literature.  It  is  divinely  inspired  literature  as  collected 
within  the  sacred  Canon  in  distinction  from  all  other 
literature,  ancient  and  modern.  In  a  limited  though 
not  the  most  important  sense  it  is  a  literary  product  or 
rather  a  collection  of  literary  products,  resembling  in 
some  respects  the  productions  of  the  masters  of  literary 
art.  Its  chronicles,  proverbs,  psalms,  prophecies,  gospels, 
and  epistles  may  be  likened,  as  they  have  been  often 
very  favorably  likened,  to  certain  corresponding  literary 
types  with  which  it  is  now  the  fashion  to  class  them 
and  sometimes  to  confound  them.  But  at  that  point 
the  superficial  resemblance  ends.  It  does  not  extend 
to  the   revealed   content   enveloped   in   these   literary 


26  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

forms,  the  divine  purport  of  the  human  language.  There 
is  still  a  fundamental  difference  between  literature  and 
Scripture.  In  distinction  from  all  other  books,  this 
volume  contains  the  accredited  mind  and  will  of  God, 
otherwise  unknown  and  unknowable  by  any  unaided 
genius  of  man.  While  the  poet  and  the  philosopher 
only  voice  the  common  human  heart  and  conscience,  the 
prophet  and  the  apostle  claim  to  bring  us  divine  ideas 
in  inspired  words  ;  and,  if  we  admit  the  evidence  of  their 
claim,  it  becomes  not  merely  undevout,  but  illogical,  to 
read  the  prophet  Isaiah  as  we  would  read  the  poet 
Virgil,  or  the  apostle  John  as  we  would  read  the  philos- 
opher Plato.  x4ls  I  have  elsewhere  said,  when  St.  Paul 
stood  among  the  masterpieces  of  Greek  art  and  lit- 
erature at  Athens,  he  quoted  a  saying  of  Aratus  and 
Cleanthes  with  the  polite  acknowledgment,  "  As  certain 
of  your  own  poets  have  said" ;  but  Avhen  he  cites  a  text 
from  Moses  and  David,  it  is  with  the  devout  preamble, 
"  As  the  Holy  Ghost  saith." 

The  Bible  no  3Iere  Ancient  Classic, 

If  the  literary  forms  of  the  Bible  suffer  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  ancient  classics,  it  is  because  they 
were  produced  by  a  somewhat  rude  people  whose  gov- 
ernment was  a  theocracy,  whose  art,  so  far  as  they  had 
any,  was  subordinated  to  religion,  and  whose  literature 
was  made  a  vehicle  of  divine  revelation.  There  is  no 
evidence  that  prophets  and  apostles  studied  mere 
rhetorical  effect,  like  poets  and  orators.  And,  therefore, 
the  two  cannot  be  classed  together.  As  to  content  and 
purport,  the  Genesis  of  Moses  is  not  to  be  named  with 
the  Theogony  of  Hesiod ;  nor  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  27 

with  the  Iliad  of  Homer  ;  nor  the  story  of  Jouah  Avith 
the  adventures  of  Ulysses ;  nor  the  psalms  of  David  with 
the  Odes  of  Horace  ;  nor  the  parables  of  our  Lord  with 
the  fables  of  ^^sop.  Under  greater  beauty  of  form 
there  is  an  essential  difference  in  matter  Avhich  stamps 
the  classical  writings  as  merely  human  works.  "Wliile 
Greek  sages  and  Koman  poets  fancifull}^  claimed  the  aid 
of  the  Muses,  Hebrew  prophets  and  Christian  apostles 
spoke  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Bible.  Free  from  Pagan  Science. 

And  this  divine  import  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in 
contrast  with  all  other  ancient  writings,  appears  even  in 
the  sphere  of  science  as  well  as  in  the  sphere  of  religion. 
Although  the  Hebrew  prophets  may  have  been,  and 
doubtless  were,  greatly  inferior  to  the  Assyrian,  Egyp- 
tian, and  Greek  sages  in  scientific  knowledge,  3^et  their 
expressions  betray  none  of  the  grotesque  absurdity 
which  disfigures  the  astronomy  or  geology  of  their  con- 
temporaries as  found  in  the  sacred  books  of  the  East, 
or  even  in  the  more  artistic  mythology  of  the  Greeks. 
Compare  the  confused  and  trivial  cosmogony  of  the 
Chaldean  tablets  with  the  lucid  and  stately  method  of 
Genesis.  Compare  the  gross  Egyptian  picture  of  the 
earth  as  a  chaotic  egg  conceived  by  the  sable-winged 
bird  of  Night,  with  the  simple  statement  of  the  Divine 
Spirit's  agency  in  creation.  Compare  the  fanciful  feats 
of  Hellenic  gods  and  goddesses  in  producing  plants, 
animals,  and  men,  with  the  sublime  fiats  of  the  one 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  Compare  the  trivial 
fables  of  Prometheus  and  Pandora  Avith  the  profound 
teaching  of  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve.     AVhy  is  it  that 


28  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  Books  of  Moses  have  outlived  scientific  discovery 
and  criticism,  while  those  of  Orpheus,  Hesiod,  and 
Tliales  have  long  since  lost  all  scientific  interest  and 
value  ?  How  comes  it  that  these  "  semi-barbarous  He- 
brews," as  they  have  been  contemptuously  styled,  have 
so  exceeded  the  science  of  their  own  time,  and  even 
their  own  personal  knowledge,  that  they  have  written 
what  is  still  true  for  our  time,  and  is  likely  to  be  true 
for  all  time  to  come?  It  is  simply  because  they  were 
under  divine  guidance  even  when  moving  in  the  realm 
of  natural  science,  and  spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  them 
utterance. 

Personal  Errmicy  of  Ins^nred   Writers. 

In  thus  accepting  the  sacred  writers  as  organs  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  we  do  not  need  to  palliate  any  of  their 
faults  and  vices  as  committed  outside  of  the  divine  com- 
munications.    Why  should  we  doubt  the  inspiration  of 
sinning  David  or  erring  Peter,  when  we  behold  a  Bacon 
or  a  Shakespeare,  notwithstanding  their  personal  fail- 
ings, made  the  Providential   instrument  of  conveying 
immortal  truth  and  benefit  to  mankind  ?     Their  personal 
errancy  is  quite  apart  from  their  oflicial  teaching,  and, 
instead  of  tingeing  Holy  Scripture  with  errors,  some- 
times only  enhances  its  truthfulness  by  contrast,  as  when 
a  royal  psalmist  so  freely  confesses  his  own  sins  and 
the  shameful  lapse  of  an  apostle  is  so  fully  portrayed 
I  by  an  evangelist.     Even  if  the  author  of  Genesis  shared 
,  the  geological  errors  of  his  age,  as  he  may  have  done, 
I  yet  there  is  no  trace  of  them  imparted  in  the  revealed 
history  of  creation  as  we  can  now  read  and  interpret  it 
i  in  the  light  of  modern  science. 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  29 


Personal  Freedom  of  Inspired  Writers. 

Nor  need  we  imagine  any  loss  of  the  individuality 
and  freedom  of  the  inspired  writers  as  exercised  within 
the  divine  communications.  Was  Isaiah  less  fervid  or 
Paul  less  logical  because  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 
Do  we  not  sometimes  see  ordinary  minds  inspired  and 
governed  by  some  superior  mind,  yet  acting  as  freely 
and  characteristically  as  if  their  own  masters  ?  We 
could  not,  if  we  would,  conceive  of  prophets  and  apostles 
as  mere  machines  or  automatons  without  thought  and 
volition ;  and  never,  even  while  receiving  their  divinest 
messages,  do  we  lose  sight  of  their  human  peculiarities, 
whether  it  be  an  austere  reformer  who  is  proclaiming 
the  vengeance  of  Jehovah,  or  a  well-bred  scholar  who  is 
reasoning  out  the  mysteries  of  godliness.  Though  we 
accept  Genesis  as  a  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  are 
not  blind  to  the  dramatic  form  of  the  divine  story  of 
creation  or  to  the  allegorical  drapery  in  the  inspired 
picture  of  primeval  man. 

Divine  Unity  of  the  Scriptures. 

Still  less  may  we  find  any  difficulty  in  the  varied 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  inspired  writers,  their  diversities  of 
idiom,  style,  diction,  purpose,  temperament,  and  envir- 
onment ;  in  short,  the  manifold  human  element  which 
appears  on  the  face  of  Holy  Scripture.  As  a  collection 
of  writings  by  different  authors,  in  different  ages,  under 
different  circumstances,  the  Bible  has  been  called  "  a 
library."  But  it  is  a  library  selected  by  divine  wisdom, 
preserved  by  divine  Providence,  animated  by  divine  in- 


30  EVIDENCES  OF  HEVEALED  RELIGION 

telligence,  organized  and  unified  by  divine  purpose,  and 
unfolding  one  divine  scheme  of  individual  and  social 
regeneration  from  the  primeval  promise  of  redemp- 
tion to  the  fulness  of  millennial  glory ;  from  the  gen- 
esis of  the  heaven  and  earth  in  the  ages  past  to  the 
apocalypse  of  the  new  heaven  and  the  nmv  earth  through 
the  ages  to  come.  To  revere  the  divine  truth  and  glory 
of  such  a  book  is  not  bibliolatry.  The  true  bibliolater 
is  your  mere  literateur  admiring  only  certain  lyric,  dra- 
matic, and  epic  beauties  which  are  but  as  the  jewelled 
crown,  sceptre,  and  robe  of  the  Spiritual  Monarch 
who  wears  them  whilst  reigning  in  the  hearts  of  man- 
kind. 

We  have  still  to  consider  the  inferential  fallacy  that 
the  "  Bible  should  be  studied  as  we  study  other  litera- 
ture." This,  also,  expresses  only  half  of  the  truth.  It 
is  true  enough  that  the  student  of  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  Scriptures  needs  the  same  literary  appliances 
which  are  needed  in  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics,  such  as  grammar,  lexicon,  text-book,  critical 
skill,  literary  taste,  and  that  linguistic  tact  which  comes 
as  a  gift  or  with  long  practice — in  other  words,  the  fur- 
niture of  the  art  of  Higher  Criticism.  But  this  is  not 
all  that  he  needs.  He  needs  pre-eminently  certain 
other  qualifications  which  are  not  needed  in  the  study 
of  any  other  book,  ancient  or  modern. 

Logical  Fre-requisites  of  Biblical  Study. 

At  the  outset,  he  needs  logically  certain  postulates  or 
principles  without  which  his  whole  literary  equipment 
will  be  worse  than  useless.  The  Bible  in  its  presup- 
positions is  so  fundamentally  different  from  all  other 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  31 

literature  that  it  cannot  be  judged  by  the  same  literary 
standards.  It  assumes  the  existence  of  the  one  true 
God  on  every  page ;  it  claims  to  be  a  miraculously  at- 
tested revelation  to  man  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  and  it  has  been  set  apart  by  the  whole 
Church  as  a  genuine  product  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
such  premises  are  not  mere  traditional  prejudices  or  dog- 
matic obstructions,  but  rational  presumptions,  imbedded 
in  the  very  phenomena  of  Scripture  itself,  and  supported 
by  the  best  historical  evidence  which  the  world  affords. 
They  are  not  found  in  any  contemporaneous  literature, 
Assyrian,  Egyptian,  Grecian,  or  Eoman  A  critic  repu- 
diating them,  an  atheist,  an  agnostic,  a  denier  of  miracles, 
inspiration,  and  the  historic  canon,  is  simply  a  critic 
who  has  already  prejudged  the  whole  case.  His  atti- 
tude, to  say  the  least,  is  illogical  and  unreasonable.  He 
is  ignoring  the  only  true  premises  of  the  whole  argu- 
ment. It  is  as  if  he  were  about  to  discuss  a  treatise  on 
physics  without  regard  to  the  mathematical  axioms 
from  which  it  proceeds,  and  which  it  everywhere  in- 
volves. He  may  be  fully  competent  to  criticise  class- 
ical authors;  but  he  is  not  fully  competent  to  criticise 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  And  he  shows  his  incompetency 
as  soon  as  he  enters  the  field  of  biblical  criticism.  He 
brings  his  sceptical  spirit  with  him,  he  comes  in  search 
of  superficial  analogies  between  heathen  mythology  and 
revealed  religion  ;  and  naturally  enough  he  finds  in  Jeho- 
vah only  an  Israelitish  Jupiter,  in  the  prophetic  reve- 
lations mere  Hebrew  oracles,  in  all  the  Bible  stories 
nothing  but  Jewish  myths,  and  in  the  whole  miraculous 
history  of  revealed  religion  a  purely  natural  development 
of  universal  religion  embellished  with  Syrian  conceits 
and  oriental  fancies.     This  is  the  logical  and  inevitable 


32  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

result  of  using  the  higher  criticism  without  regard  to 
the  essential  distinction  between  classical  and  biblical 
literature."^ 

3Iisapplied   Classical  Criticism. 

And  a  like  mistake  is  made  by  some  Christian  schol- 
ars of  the  same  school,  who,  though  accepting  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  biblical  literature,  will  proceed  to 
forget  them  or  even  protest  continued  belief  in  them 
while  undermining  them.  When  such  critics  come  upon 
a  seeming  discrepancy  or  verbal  inaccuracy,  instead  of 
endeavoring  to  explain  it  or  retaining  it  simply  as  a  still 
unexplained  difficulty,  they  will  straightway  f)roclaim  it 
as  an  "  error,"  implying  incompetency  or  deceit  in  an 
inspired  w^riter.  If  they  regard  the  story  of  Eden  as  a 
spiritual  allegory  they  do  not  directly  connect  it  with 
tlie  Holy  Spirit  as  its  real  author,  but  incorrectly  style 
it  "  a  myth  "  or  mere  human  fable,  and  sometimes  rashly 
trace  it  as  such  to  a  Persian  or  Chaldean  origin.  They 
seem  to  handle  a  sacred  book  as  if  it  were  a  literary 
forgery  to  be  self-convicted  by  means  of  its  grammatical 
solecisms  and  anachronisms ;  and  would,  if  they  might, 
reconstruct  the  entire  canonical  scriptures  as  if  they 
were  some  chance  miscellany  that  has  drifted  down  to 
us  on  the  stream  of  profane  tradition.  While  theoreti- 
cally accepting  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  inspired  of  God, 
they  practically  treat  them  as  they  might  treat  the 
works  of  Homer  or  of  Livy. 

The  principle  that  the  rules  of  classical  criticism 
should  govern  biblical  criticism  was  first  judiciously 
broached  by  Ernesti,  the  German  Cicero,  but  pushed 

♦  This  subject  is  more  fully  treated  hereafter  in  the  paper  (VIII.)  on 
the  False  Mythical  Theory  of  Revealed  Religion. 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  33 

to  rash  extremes  by  Eicliliorn,  De  Wette,  and  Herder. 
It  does  not  follow  even  on  philological  or  literary 
grounds  that  a  good  critic  in  one  language  will  be  a 
good  critic  in  another  language,  and  with  reference  to 
another  class  of  themes.  The  great  Bentley  himself 
was  a  striking  example  to  the  contrary.  After  he  had 
vanquished  all  his  opponents  in  the  famous  "  battle  of 
books  "  by  triumphantly  proving  that  the  Epistles  of 
Phalaris  and  the  Fables  of  iEsop  were  forgeries,  he 
might  have  remained  the  acknowledged  master  of  the 
critical  art,  had  he  not  been  tempted  in  a  rash  moment 
to  try  his  pen  upon  the  great  English  epic  of  Milton. 
He  fancied  that  there  Avere  certain  literary  blemishes  in 
the  Paradise  Lost,  which  must  have  been  interpolated 
by  the  amanuensis  or  the  redactor  of  the  blind  old  poet, 
and  which  might  be  removed  by  his  own  critical  sagac- 
ity and  conjecture.  What  havoc  was  wrought  by  such 
emendation  may  be  shown  by  one  or  two  specimens. 
On  etymological  grounds  the  infuriate  legions  of  Satan 
were  made  to  draw  their  "  blades "  instead  of  their 
"  swords,"  and  brandish  them  toward  the  "  walls  of 
heaven,"  not  toward  the  "  vault  of  heaven,"  according 
to  Milton's  grander  conception.  Topographical  inac- 
curacies were  found  in  the  scene  of  Raphael's  leave- 
taking, 

'*  So  parted  they;  the  angel  up  to  heaven, 
From  the  thick  shade  ;  and  Adam  to  his  bower. ' ' 

Bentley  argued  that  Adam  could  not  have  left  his  bower, 
and  substituted  the  ponderous  reading, 

'  *  So  parted  they  ;  the  angel  up  to  heaven  : 
Adam  to  ruminate  on  past  disGoi(,rse.'^ 
3 


34  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

The  well-known  line,  suggesting  the  dim  interior  of 
Hell, 

"No  light,  but  rather  darkness  visible," 

was  elucidated  so  as  to  read, 

"No  light  but  rather  a  transpicuous  gloom. " 

Disraeli  tells  us  that  there  are  a  thousand  such  critical 
emendations  in  Bentley's  Milton ;  and  exclaims,  "  Let  it 
remain  as  a  gibbet  on  the  high-roads  of  literature  and 
serve  as  a  terrifying  beacon  to  all  conjectural  criticism." 
The  school  of  Bentley,  however,  still  survives  in  some 
biblical  critics  of  acknowledged  learning,  who  naively 
think  to  prove  their  points  by  imagining  a  redactor  be- 
hind every  difficult  text,  translating  the  divine  name 
Jehovah  as  "  Jahveh,"  calling  the  first  section  of  the 
canon  the  "  Hexateuch,"  and  ascribing  its  various  por- 
tions to  the  initials  of  imaginary  writers. 

Abuse  of  the  Higher  Criticism, 

The  method  of  the  Higher  Criticism  is  sound  enough 
when  rightly  used  and  applied  within  reasonable  limits. 
Its  value,  though  sometimes  exaggerated,  is  undisputed 
in  determining  the  date,  structure,  and  authorship  of 
ancient  writings,  whether  sacred  or  profane  ;  and  in  this 
age  of  light  and  liberty  it  is  practically  as  unfettered 
as  the  wind.  The  question  of  its  free  use  by  biblical 
scholars  is  a  false  issue.  Asa  matter  of  fact,  it  is  already 
freely  used  by  biblical  scholars  of  all  classes,  by  the 
most  orthodox  as  well  as  by  the  most  infidel.  But  it  is 
also  abused  and  perverted  and  may  lose  the  essential 
qualities  of  Christian  scholarship.     When  it  is  applied 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  35 

to  the  Scriptures  regardless  of  their  divine  origin  and 
claims,  it  cannot  but  become  fallacious  and  destructive  ; 
and  when  its  crude  results  are  forced  into  popular  ser- 
mons to  the  unsettling  of  the  common  faith,  it  becomes, 
if  not  a  breach  of  clerical  ethics,  yet  a  strange  inconsist- 
ency and  just  cause  of  offence. 

Scientific  Pre-requisites,  ^ 

In  the  second  place,  the  biblical  student  needs  scien- 
tific aid,  scientific  in  distinction  from  literary  appliances. 
Unlike  all  other  ancient  books  the  Bible  is  found  to  em- 
brace the  whole  field  of  the  sciences,  physical  and  psy- 
chical, in  manifold  connection  with  its  revealed  doc- 
trines ;  and  no  mere  literary  critic  is  competent  by  mere 
literary  methods  to  settle  questions  lying  partly  or  wholly 
within  the  province  of  any  of  these  sciences.  Without 
astronomical  knowledge  he  cannot  tell  whether  the  as- 
tronomical scriptures  are  in  accord  with  the  discovery 
of  suns  and  planets.  Without  geological  knowledge 
he  cannot  tell  whether  the  order  of  the  creative  days 
agrees  with  the  order  of  the  earth's  strata.  Without 
ethnological  knowledge  he  cannot  tell  Avhether  the 
Mosaic  genealogies  include  or  exclude  pre-Adamite  and 
co-Adamite  races  of  mankind.  Without  archaeological 
knowledge  he  cannot  tell  whether  the  Mosaic  cosmog- 
ony was  of  Hebrew  or  Chaldean  origin,  or  derived  from 
primeval  tradition  still  more  ancient ;  nor  whether  the 
Elohist  and  Jehovist  sections  were  original  writings 
or  compiled  documents ;  nor  whether  Moses  wrote  the 
whole  or  parts  of  the  books  which  have  always  bonie 
his  name.  Without  historical  science  he  cannot  tell 
whether  the  Mosaic  codes  formed  a  logical  or  chrono- 


36  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

logical  series ;  nor  whether  they  date  before  or  after 
the  Babylonian  exile.  And  without  some  knowledge 
of  psychology,  sociology,  and  comparative  religion  he 
cannot  even  approach  the  higher  problems  of  the  soul, 
the  Church,  and  the  future  of  Christianity.  In  a  word, 
no  amount  of  mere  literary  criticism,  however  learned 
and  acute,  can  settle  these  and  other  complex  scientific 
questions  connected  with  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  extending  quite  outside  of  Hebrew  and  Greek 
literature,  into  other  fields  of  modern  scientific  re- 
search. 

Unscientific  Higher  Criticism^ 

Moreover,  though  we  dare  not  say  that  the  literary 
spirit  is  peculiarly  errant,  yet  it  is  fair  to  say  that  it  has 
hitherto  greatly  needed  more  of  the  scientific  spirit  to 
check  and  guide  it.  Its  vagaries  for  the  last  hundred 
years,  especially  in  the  schools  of  Germany,  have  made 
it  the  scandal  of  Christian  learning  as  well  as  of  com- 
mon-sense. Some  of  us  began  acquaintance  with  it 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  when  we  were  young  and  eager 
students  of  divinity,  and  we  cannot  now  be  charged  with 
ignorance  of  it  by  those  who  are  hailing  it  as  a  novelty. 
Nor,  indeed,  is  it  necessary  for  anyone  to  master  all  its 
details,  in  order  to  see  that  it  has  lacked  the  inductive 
method  of  true  science ;  that  it  has  proceeded  from  as- 
sumed facts,  with  inadequate  hypotheses,  to  illegitimate 
conclusions,  and  that  it  is  largely  mere  critical  conject- 
ure based  upon  critical  conjecture,  brilliant  erudition 
without  solid  knowledge.  Upon  its  polychrome  Bible 
might  be  written  what  Bossuet  wrote  upon  a  charming- 
treatise  of  Malebranche,  "  pulchra,  nova,  falsa."  Its  fas- 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  37 

cinating  symbols,  E,  J,  P,  and  D,  howsoever  combined, 
still  figure  in  an  unsolved  problem,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  the  personages  indicated  by  them,  the  Elohist  and 
the  Jehovist,  the  Deuteronomist  and  the  Priestly  Codi- 
fier,  with  the  ubiquitous  Kedactor,  are  purely  ideal, 
without  even  the  despised  evidence  of  tradition  to  make 
them  real.  Indeed,  for  the  sake  of  such  mere  modern 
fancies,  it  has  set  aside  the  historical  evidence  of  the 
entire  Jewish  and  Christian  Church,  the  direct  testi- 
mony of  the  nearest  inspired  and  contemporary  writers, 
and  the  biblical  knowledge  of  our  Lord  himself,  to 
say  nothing  of  his  divine  knowledge.  And  now,  as  the 
result  of  all  this  literary  guesswork,  it  offers  us,  in 
place  of  the  received  canon,  a  medley  of  pseudonymous 
fragments  behind  which  the  true  authors  and  editors, 
it  would  seem,  have  been  masquerading  as  inspired 
prophets  and  apostles  for  thousands  of  years.  In  all 
reason  and  frankness  it  is  time  to  protest  against  such 
speculations  among  Christian  scholars.  Not  because 
they  are  beyond  the  right  and  liberty  of  research  (this 
is  a  false  issue)  ;  not  because  they  are  necessarily  ra- 
tionalistic or  heretical  (this  some  critics  deny) ;  not 
even  because  they  are  unwelcome  (we  might  almost 
wish  some  of  them  were  true)  ;  but  simply  because  they 
are  unscientific  ;  because  they  are  contrary  to  the  liter- 
ary phenomena  and  the  historical  facts ;  because,  even 
if  true,  they  would  add  but  little  to  our  stock  of  biblical 
knowledge;  because,  in  a  w^ord,  they  are  either  not 
proved  or  not  worth  proving.  We  take  the  ground  of 
the  Higher  Criticism  against  them.  We  will  believe 
them  when  we  can  believe  that  Shakespeare  did  not 
write  the  dramas  of  Shakespeare,  or  that  the  Waverley 
novels  had  an  unknown  redactor  in  Sir  Walter's  private 


38  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

secretary,  or  that  the  Anglican  Prayer-book  was  a  post- 
exilic  production  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 


Spiritual  Pre-requisites, 

But  besides  scientific  aid,  the  biblical  student  also 
needs  spiritual  aid  before  and  above  all  literary  requi- 
sites. The  Bible  should  not  be  studied  as  we  study 
other  books,  for  the  eminent  reason  that  unlike  any 
other  book,  ancient  or  modern,  it  claims  to  be  a  product 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  requires  for  its  fall  comprehen- 
sion the  inward  illumination  of  its  divine  author.  No 
mere  grammatic  or  literary  study  can  exhaust  the  infinite 
mind  of  the  Spirit  which  the  natural  mind  receiveth 
not.  It  is  old-fashioned  doctrine,  but  it  is  doctrine 
which  has  been  tested,  that  spiritual  discernment  rather 
than  gesthetic  taste  is  the  primary  requisite  of  biblical 
study.  Having  that  requisite,  a  reader  of  our  English 
Bible,  though  ignorant  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  and  as  de- 
void of  literary  culture  as  a  Bunyan  or  a  Moody,  may 
become  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  versed  in  those  di- 
vine mysteries  which  were  in  the  bosom  of  God  at  the 
beginning  of  the  world  and  which  our  Lord  declared 
had  been  hidden  from  philosophers  and  sages  and  re- 
vealed unto  men  as  unsophisticated  as  babes.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  most  accomplished  literary  critic,  if 
destitute  of  these  primary  graces  of  reverence,  docility, 
and  faith,  will  betray  a  fatal  lack  of  spiritual  insight, 
and  will  find  in  the  Scriptures  only  what  he  finds  in 
other  ancient  books,  at  t-active  myths  and  legends,  sagas 
and  folk-lore,  excellent  moral  and  religious  maxims,  to- 
gether with  abundant  mistakes,  absurdities,  and  errors ; 
in  short  a  Bible  without  miracle  or  prophecy  or  in- 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  39 

spiration  or  authority.  Have  we  not  seen  him  thus  in- 
vading the  shrine  of  revealed  truth  unabashed,  and  tak- 
ing prophets  and  apostles  by  the  beard?  No  wonder 
that  the  deep  things  of  the  Spirit  vanish  under  his 
critical  dissection  of  the  letter.  The  Wounded  Dove 
flees  from  his  scalpel.  He  has  cut  the  divine  documents 
as  with  the  pen-knife  of  Jehudi.  "  And  it  came  to  pass 
that  when  Jehudi  had  read  three  or  four  leaves,  he  cut 
it  with  the  pen-knife,  and  cast  it  into  the  fire  that  was 
on  the  hearth,  until  all  the  roll  was  consumed  in  the 
fire  that  was  on  the  hearth."  * 

Rationalistic   Criticism, 

It  is  not  merely  naturalism,  hostility  to  the  super- 
natural and  miraculous,  which  must  be  charged  against 
such  critics  :  it  is  a  false  rationalism.  It  is  a  rational- 
ism which  is  itself  irrational.  It  is  a  rationalism  which 
perverts  our  God-given  reason  and  will  not  take  the 
place  of  right  reason,  lowly  yet  exalted,  before  the  One 
Absolute  Reason.  It  is  a  rationalism  which  does  not 
even  recognize  the  limitations  of  reason,  but  would  at- 
tempt transcendental  problems,  which  a  revelation 
alone  could  solve  and  has  solved.  It  is  a  rationalism 
which  refuses  to  submit  the  finite  mind  of  man  to  the 
infinite  mind  of  God  as  revealed  by  his  Holy  Spirit  in 
his  Holy  Word.  It  is  a  rationalism  which  reveres 
neither  the  inspired  Bible  nor  the  illumined  Church,  but 
is  ever  handling  the  word  of  God  deceitfully  and  evap- 
orating the  creeds  and  forms  of  the  Catholic  Faith.  And 
its  mere  naturalistic  tendency  is  not  so  much  to  be 
dreaded  as  its  imbelieving  spirit.     Let  it  explain  away, 


40  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

if  it  can,  the  whole  supernatural  element  of  the  Bible, 
as  now  popularly  conceived.  Let  it  exhibit,  if  it  will, 
every  miracle  as  a  natural  event,  and  the  entire  evolu- 
tion of  revealed  religion  from  Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse 
as  a  natural  process  under  natural  laws,  as  Bishop  But- 
ler long  ago  conceived  it ;  but  let  it  not  touch  with  rash 
hand  that  divine  revelation  which  the  miracles  attest, 
around  which  the  supernatural  shines,  of  which  proph- 
ets and  apostles  are  the  heralds,  and  before  which  the 
tallest  seraph  in  glory  reverently  bows,  alike  with  the 
little  child  at  its  mother's  knee. 

Conservative  Higher   Criticism. 

At  this  point  it  is  important  and  only  right  to  dis- 
ciiminate  carefully  between  the  Keverent  and  the  Ra- 
tionalistic schools  of  biblical  study,  known  as  the  Con- 
servative and  Radical  wings  of  the  Higher  Criticism. 
The  former  disclaim  the  rash  and  destructive  conclu- 
sions of  the  latter  and  are  fairly  distinguishable  from 
them  by  having  the  spiritual  requisites  which  we  have 
just  noticed.  Some  of  them  use  the  Higher  Criticism 
learnedly  in  defence  of  the  traditional  authorship  and 
historicity  of  the  sacred  records,  exhibiting  their  sub- 
stantial consistency  without  the  aid  of  hypothetical  docu- 
ments, scribes,  and  redactors.  Others  contend  that  the 
inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures  can  be  con- 
served, though  it  be  proven  that  they  were  largely  an  ac- 
cretion or  collection  of  sacred  traditions,  documents,  and 
codes  compiled  by  pious  hands,  before  and  after  the  time 
of  Moses,  to  whom  they  were  popularly  attributed  by  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles.  Still  others  also  maintain  that 
revealed  religion   need  lose  none  of  its   supernatural 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  41 

character  and  claims,  if  it  be  shown  to  have  had  a  his- 
tory or  a  development  since  the  Exodus,  which  seems 
forbidden  by  literal  statements  of  the  sacred  narratives, 
but  may  be  traced  in  them  by  a  literary  expert  versed 
in  Hebrew  antiquities.  Without  inquiring  how  far 
these  views  are  self-consistent,  sound  and  valuable,  I 
shall  endeavor  scrupulously  to  give  them  due  considera- 
tion and  weight,  and  be  ready  to  welcome  such  critics  in 
the  ranks  of  sincere  defenders  of  the  faith  on  the  basis 
of  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  previous  discussion. 
These  principles  are,  that  the  Bible  extends  its  revela- 
tions within  the  realm  of  the  physical  sciences  as  well 
as  the  psychical  sciences  ;  that  it  is  to  be  held  no  more 
erroneous  in  the  one  realm  than  in  the  other  ;  and  that 
for  its  proper  study  it  requires  scientific  knowledge  and 
spiritual  insight  no  less  than  literary  scholarship. 

Higher  Qicalities  of  the  Scientific  Evidence, 

Having  thus  cleared  the  Scientific  Evidence  from  the 
current  fallacies  which  hinder  its  due  appreciation,  w^e  are 
now  ready  to  examine  its  logical  qualities  more  directly. 
In  general,  it  may  be  said  to  share  the  qualities  of  sci- 
ence as  distinguished  from  ordinary  vague  knowledge. 
First  of  all,  it  shares  the  certitude  of  science.  Like  all 
true  science  it  is  founded  upon  unquestioned  facts  rather 
than  upon  assumed  principles.  When  we  argue  from 
the  Divine  wisdom  and  goodness,  that  a  revelation 
should  be  made,  we  assume  principles  w^hicli  are  not 
generally  admitted ;  and  when  we  argue  from  miracles 
and  prophecies,  that  a  revelation  has  been  made,  we  as- 
sume facts  Avhich  are  still  questioned ;  but  when  w^e 
show  that  astronomical  facts  or  geological  facts  are  in 


42  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

agreement  with  corresponding  truths  in  Holy  Scripture, 
we  show  that  the  Author  of  Scripture  is  also  the  Author 
of  Nature,  and  has  made  known  nothing  in  the  one  vol- 
ume contrary  to  what  has  been  found  in  the  other.  The 
proof  of  natural  religion  is  largely  a  matter  of  abstract 
reasoning,  and  the  proof  of  miracles  and  prophecies  is 
mainly  a  matter  of  historic  testimony  ;  but  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  as  magnified  by  astronomy  and  unfolded  by 
geology  is  purely  a  matter  of  Scientific  evidence. 

This  evidence  also  shares  the  impartiality  of  science. 
It  is  a  just  boast  of  true  science  that  it  is  absolutely 
unprejudiced  and  disinterested ;  that  in  its  quest  for 
facts  it  will  not  be  governed  by  authorities,  traditions,  or 
precedents,  however  venerable  ;  that  it  is  neither  swayed 
by  the  passions  and  infirmities  of  mortals  nor  turned 
back*  from  its  course  by  persecution,  torture,  or  death 
itself  ;  and  that  when  it  reaches  its  conclusions  it  seems 
to  have  no  regard  for  human  interests  the  most  dear  or 
sacred,  but  becomes  impassive  as  nature  and  merciless 
as  fate.  History  shows  us  that  it  has  often  forced  its 
own  votaries  to  abandon  their  most  plausible  hypothe- 
ses, reverse  their  cherished  opinions,  and  at  length  ac- 
cept the  very  results  from  which  they  had  recoiled. 
History  shows  us,  too,  as  in  the  case  of  Galileo,  that  it 
has  sometimes  compelled  even  divines,  priests,  and 
popes  with  infallible  claims  to  reconstruct  their  long-es- 
tablished interpretations  of  Scripture,  but,  after  seem- 
ing to  menace  Scripture  itself,  has  only  opened  new  and 
larger  views  of  its  meaning  and  left  it  like  a  sun  cleared 
of  clouds,  to  shine  with  increased  radiance  and  glory. 
Now  when  astronomy  thus  becomes  a  Avitness  to  the 
truths  of  revealed  religion,  it  is  no  interested  advocate 
pleading  a  cause,  no  specious  apologist   defending  a 


VALUE  OP  SGIENTIFIG  EVIDENCE  43 

claim,  but  it  is  Science  itself  giving  evidence  at  the  bar 
of  Omniscience. 

This  evidence  still  further  shares  the  cumulative 
power  and  fulness  of  Science.  As  we  study  the  sciences 
philosophically  we  find  that  they  are  not  mere  scattered 
fragments  of  knowledge,  but  a  linked  series  helping  one 
another  forward  in  a  general  progress  toward  perfect 
knowledge.  AVe  find  also  that  as  thus  arranged  they 
have  a  common  ground  with  the  Bible  where  their  own 
discovered  facts  become  accordant  with  revealed  truth 
as  fast  as  they  attain  scientific  exactness  and  clearness. 
Into  this  common  ground,  therefore,  they  enter  not  as 
wrangling  disputants  with  chance  testimony,  but  as 
competent  witnesses  with  an  ever-growing  consistency 
pointing  forward  to  the  ultimate  demonstration  of  the 
whole  Word  of  God  by  the  reason  of  man  and  the  per- 
fect coincidence  of  human  Science  with  divine  Omni- 
science. 

But  the  high  qualities  claimed  for  the  Scientific  Evi- 
dence may  appear  more  clearly  as  we  now  proceed  to 
define  its  sources  and  the  various  forms  in  which  it  is 
afforded.  These  are  fourfold,  to  be  here  announced  nec- 
essarily in  general  terms,  but  hereafter  to  be  more  spe- 
cially and  fully  illustrated : 

Tlie  Evidence  of  Scientific  Authorities. 

First.  The  chief  authorities  in  each  science  can  be 
cited  in  favor  of  revealed  religion.  Much  of  the  cur- 
rent evidence  of  Scientific  knowledge  rests  upon  author- 
ity and  testimon3^  We  are  in  the  position  of  laymen 
or  learners  in  respect  to  the  Masters  of  Science,  and  ac- 
cept the  results  of  their  researches,  sometimes  without 


44:  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

unclerstandiDg  the  processes  by  which  such  results  have 
been  reached,  and  often  without  mastering  the  details 
of  such  processes,  even  if  made  intelligible  to  us.  We 
thus  believe  the  scarcely  credible  discoveries  which  have 
been  made  in  astronomy  or  in  geology,  though  ourselves 
unable  to  verify  them.  When,  therefore,  leading  men 
of  science  declare  their  discoveries  to  be  not  in  conflict 
with  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  hold  their  religious 
faith  consistently  with  their  scientific  knowledge,  this  is 
testimony  of  the  highest  authority.  If  there  w^ere  any 
necessary  antagonism  between  science  and  revealed 
religion,  then  such  men  would  be  the  first  to  feel  and 
show  it  and  the  last  to  quit  the  battle  against  the  Faith  ; 
but  on  the  contrary,  as  a  class,  with  exceptions  which 
only  prove  the  rule,  they  have  given  their  united  and 
unequivocal  evidence  in  support  of  revealed  truths.  It 
will  be  found  that  the  history  of  the  sciences  is  full  of 
such  personal  evidence  of  scientists  themselves. 

The  Evidence  of  Scientific  Facts. 

Second.  The  ascertained  or  demonstrated  portions  of 
each  science  can  be  shown  to  be  already  in  harmony 
with  revealed  religion.  After  centuries  of  research  and 
criticism,  we  possess,  especially  in  the  physical  sciences, 
large  bodies  of  exact  knowledge,  resting  upon  observed 
facts,  susceptible  of  demonstrative  proof,  and  no  longer 
challenged  as  admitting  of  a  doubt.  The  portion  of 
astronomy  known  as  celestial  mechanics  rests  upon 
such  a  certain  basis  ;  and  the  portion  of  geology  known 
as  terrestrial  physics  is  approximating  a  like  certitude. 
Now  if  these  well-ascertained  facts  of  science  stood  in 
glaring  contrariety  with  any  revealed  truths  to  which 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  45 

they  are  directly  related,  tins  would  tend  to  show  that 
the  author  of  Scripture  is  not  also  the  author  of  Nature, 
or  that  the  human  authors  of  Scripture  had  communi- 
cated divine  knowledge  in  a  form  inconsistent  with  hu- 
man knowledge.  But  instead  of  this  result  it  is  found 
that  the  two  portions  of  knowledge,  the  divine  and  the 
human,  logically  require  one  another,  that  neither  can 
do  without  the  other,  and  both  together  serve  at  once  to 
support  science  and  illustrate  revelation.  As  we  review 
the  sciences  we  shall  find  them  yielding  this  species  of 
evidence  in  proportion  to  their  maturity  as  bodies  of 
certain  knowledge. 

The  Evidence  of  Scientific  Theories. 

Third.  The  problematical  or  hypothetical  portions 
of  each  science  can  be  provisionally  adjusted  as  in  suffi- 
cient harmony  with  revealed  religion.  In  distinction 
from  the  demonstrated  portions  of  scientific  knowledge, 
the  whole  field  of  investigation  is  covered  with  masses 
of  unsolved  problems  for  the  solution  of  which  men  of 
science  have  framed  various  conflicting  hypotheses  or 
tentative  constructions  of  fact,  all  of  which  cannot  be 
true,  though  each  may  have  elements  of  truth.  Astron- 
omy and  geology,  for  example,  are  filled  with  such 
problems  and  hypotheses  concerning  the  origin,  the 
development,  and  the  destiny  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  astronomers  and  geologists  are  accordingly 
divided  as  in  hostile  camps  upon  a  battle-field.  Now  it 
is  not  "the  business  of  the  reconcilers  " — as  Mr.  Huxley 
is  pleased  to  term  us — to  reconcile  scientists  among 
themselves,  nor  need  we  be  troubled  to  reconcile  their 
mere  conflicting  speculations  with  any  revealed  truths 


46  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

which  they  may  seem  to  menace.  All  that  we  need  do 
or  can  do  is  to  exhibit  the  problem  of  opinion,  to  state 
the  relative  agreement  or  disagreement  which  would 
ensue  when  all  the  facts  are  known  and  the  true  theory 
has  been  obtained.  And  we  shall  find,  in  regard  to 
these  conflicting  hypotheses,  that  while  some  of  them 
would  leave  existing  interpretation  of  Scripture  undis- 
turbed, others  would  only  require  that  interpretation  to 
be  modified  favorably,  and  that,  which  ever  hypothesis 
may  ultimately  prevail,  the  essential  truths  of  revealed 
religion  will  remain  unimpaired,  if  not  enhanced  and 
illustrated.  The  history  of  the  more  advanced  Sciences 
will  show  us  how  a  scientific  evidence  which  at  first 
seemed  hostile  has  at  length  become  friendly  and  all  the 
more  conclusive  because  tried  and  purged  in  the  fires  of 
controversy. 

The  Evidence  of  Scientific  Marvels. 

Fourth.  The  marvels  of  modern  science  may  serve  to 
explain  and  illustrate  the  miracles  of  revealed  religion. 
It  would  seem  that  the  supernatural  signs  and  wonders 
by  means  of  which  Christianity  originally  obtained  cre- 
dence in  the  world  have  become  incredible  to  some  per- 
sons who  fancy  that  the  Science  of  our  day  has  demon- 
strated their  intrinsic  impossibility  or  shown  that  there 
is  nothing  analogous  to  them  in  modern  experience. 
While  it  is  true  that  such  miracles  are  no  longer 
wrought  because  no  longer  needed  to  attest  the  claims 
of  inspired  writers,  the  book  of  revelation  having  been 
closed  and  the  canon  completed,  yet  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  science  itself  is  unfolding  before  us  more 
stupendous  marvels  than  any  miracles  recorded  in  the 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE  47 

Old  or  New  Testament,  and  is  thus  by  the  achievements 
of  man  rendering  the  wonderful  acts  of  God  more 
easily  conceivable  and  more  credible.  It  is  showing  us 
that  what  is  possible  with  man  cannot  have  been  impos- 
sible with  God.  You  may  have  deemed  it  impossible 
that  iron  should  swim,  as  Elislia  caused  an  axe-head 
to  swim  in  the  brook  by  means  of  a  wooden  staff; 
yet  perhaps  you  crossed  the  ocean  last  summer  in  a 
huge  iron  bowl  which  swam  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles 
an  hour.  You  may  sometimes  have  thought  it  incredi- 
ble that  our  Lord  should  have  raised  Lazarus  from  the 
dead,  j'et  before  experience  it  would  have  been  no  more 
credible  that  men  should  talk  together  across  the  Atlan- 
tic and  girdle  the  globe  with  their  instantaneous  thought. 
Miracles  could  not  have  happened  ?  Miracles  do  hap- 
pen !  In  some  cases  science  even  helps  us  to  conceive 
how  a  miracle  may  have  been  wrought  through  divine 
knowledge  and  skill  in  due  consistency  with  natural 
laws.  In  fact  there  is  no  modern  science  within  whose 
province  ancient  miracles  did  not  occur,  which  now 
have  their  parallels  in  its  own  marvels  and  achieve- 
ments. While,  then,  some  sceptics  are  ever  invidiously 
telling  us  that  the  age  of  miracles  is  past,  science  itself 
is  showing  us  that  the  age  of  miracles  has  come  again. 

Valuation  of  the  Scientific  Evidence, 
It  only  remains  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  Scien- 
tific Evidence.  And  let  it  first  be  remarked  that  its 
value  is  imperfect  only  in  so  far  as  science  itself  is  still 
imperfect.  If  it  consists  largely  of  probable  evidence 
rather  than  of  demonstrative  proof,  it  is  because  all  sci- 
ence rests  largely  upon  such  evidence,  being  mainly  an 
empirical  collection  of  facts ;  and  if  it  be  more  complete 


48  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

in  some  sciences  than  in  others,  it  is  because  some  sci- 
ences are  more  complete  than  others,  according  to  their 
different  stages  of  advancement  toward  perfect  knowl- 
edge. These  distinctions  being  always  premised,  its 
value  will  appear  in  three  respects. 

It  is  valuable  in  relation  to  other  Evidences,  the  Mi- 
raculous and  the  Prophetical,  the  External  and  the  In- 
ternal. Without  it,  indeed,  other  evidences  would  be 
weak  or  worthless.  No  ancient  miracles  or  prophecies 
would  now  have  any  evidential  value  if  science  could 
falsify  them  as  the  myths  and  legends  of  a  former  rude 
age  and  people ;  still  less  would  any  external  evidence 
of  this  dubious  kind  uphold  a  supposed  revelation  con- 
taining scientific  errors  and  absurdities,  such  as  appear 
in  the  Chaldean  tablets  or  the  Book  of  Mormon.  But 
when  science  is  found  to  explain  miracles  and  prophe- 
cies as  quite  possible  and  credible  expressions  of  divine 
power  and  knowledge,  when  astronomy  and  geology  are 
seen  illustrating  the  divine  perfections  revealed  in 
Scripture,  and  when  each  science  appears  coming  into 
agreement  with  revealed  doctrines  as  fast  as  it  ap- 
proaches scientific  completeness,  then  there  will  be  a 
convergence  and  accumulation  of  all  the  evidences,  both 
external  and  internal,  toward  the  highest  degree  of 
moral  certainty. 

It  is  valuable  in  relation  to  the  scientist  himself.  All 
science  is,  in  one  good  sense,  agnostic  toward  religion. 
At  the  end  of  its  empirical  research  it  comes  to  a  meta- 
physical void,  where  its  torch  goes  out,  and  any  further 
light  must  be  the  light  of  a  revelation.  Were  there  no 
evidence  of  a  revelation,  agnosticism  might  be  justified 
and  unbelief  become  sane  and  rational.  But  when  such 
evidence  is  at  hand,  evidence  strictly  scientific  in  its 


VALUE  OF  SCIENTIFIO  EVIDENCE  49 

sources  and  quality,  evidence  as  scientific  as  the  evi- 
dence of  the  solar  system  or  of  the  theory  of  evolution, 
then  there  is  no  longer  any  room  for  reasonable  doubt 
and  ignorance.  Such  scientific  evidence  will  have  come 
to  the  modern  scientist  craving  knowledge,  as  of  old  the 
prophetical  or  philosophical  evidence  came  to  the  Greek 
seeking  wisdom,  and  the  miraculous  evidence  came  to 
the  Jew  requiring  a  sign. 

It  is  valuable  in  relation  to  all  the  interests  of  civili- 
zation. We  must  not  forget  that  our  whole  civilization 
is  essentially  Christian  and  has  its  roots  deep  down  and 
far  back  in  revealed  religion.  Our  art  is  full  of  Chris- 
tian ideals.  Our  philosophy  is  saturated  with  Christian 
thought.  Our  jurisprudence  is  transfused  with  Chris- 
tian Ethics.  Our  States  are  irradiated  with  Christian 
Churches.  Our  philanthropies  are  Christian  Charities. 
Kill  or  sap  the  roots  of  this  wondrous  culture  with  ag- 
nosticism and  unbelief,  and  all  its  goodly  flower  and 
fruitage  will  wither  away.  But  support  it  with  scien- 
tific evidence,  animate  it  with  scientific  faith,  and  fresh 
life  will  flow  from  its  roots  into  all  the  branches.  Our 
art  will  repent  and  return  from  the  husks  and  the  swine. 
Our  philosophy  will  unite  revelation  with  reason  in  the 
search  for  perfect  knowledge.  Our  politics  will  aim  to 
preserve  law  with  liberty,  and  social  with  individual 
rights.  Our  Churches  will  have  become  united  with 
our  States  in  the  one  Catholic  Faith.  And  our  philan- 
thropy will  ever  keep  its  face  toward  the  predicted 
reign  of  universal  love  and  peace. 

Timeliness  of  the  Scientific  Evidence, 
Need  it  be  added  that  the  value  of  this  evidence  is 
timely  and  practical?   We  live  in  an  age  of  science,  in 


60  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIQION 

the  chief  epoch  of  science.  During  the  last  three  cen- 
turies science  has  made  greater  progress  than  in  the 
previous  twenty  centuries ;  and  during  the  last  fifty 
years,  greater  progress  than  in  the  previous  three  hun- 
dred years.  It  is  entering  the  new  century  like  a  con- 
queror with  his  trophies.  It  has  gained  vast  possessions 
in  astronomy,  in  geology,  in  chemistry,  in  physics,  in 
the  mental  sciences,  and  it  has  brought  with  it  marvel- 
lous inventions — the  rail-car,  the  steamship,  the  tele- 
graph, the  photograph,  the  spectroscope,  the  lucifer 
match,  electric  lighting,  Eoentgen  rays,  an?osthetics, 
antiseptic  surgery.  Justly  therefore  its  votaries  have 
become  the  idols  of  the  people,  to  be  applauded  as 
heroes  while  living,  and  when  dead  to  be  entombed 
among  kings,  nobles,  warriors,  and  poets,  as  benefactors 
of  the  race.  Unhappily,  however,  as  if  intoxicated  with 
all  this  success  and  worship  of  science,  some  rash  hands 
are  driving  her  car  of  triumph  as  a  war-chariot  into  the 
sacred  domain  of  religion,  across  the  fair  pastures  of  the 
Church.  And  now,  in  this  seeming  conflict  with  sci- 
ence Ave  can  only  overcome  scientific  unbelief  with  sci- 
entific evidence.  It  is  a  battle  which  can  only  be  fought 
with  the  weapons  of  Science.  And  the  victory,  when  it 
comes,  will  be  a  victory  of  Science,  her  last  and  noblest 
victory.  Not  the  mere  physical  comforts,  which  she 
is  multiplying  among  us ;  not  alone  the  arts  of  utility 
and  beauty  which  she  is  nourishing;  not  even  the 
humane  charities  which  she  is  promoting,  will  be  her 
crowning  achievement,  but,  over  and  above  these,  and 
as  the  primal  source  of  them  all,  will  be  her  own  dem- 
onstration of  the  truth,  the  beneficence,  and  the  glory 
of  the  Christian  religion. 


Ill 

THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY 

On  entering  the  field  of  the  Scientific  Evidence  we  are 
at  once  impressed  by  its  vast  extent  and  embarrassed 
with  its  varied  materials.  It  is  as  vast  as  the  domain 
of  science  itself,  embracing  both  the  physical  sciences, 
astronomy,  geology,  anthropology,  and  the  psychical 
sciences,  psychology,  sociology,  comparative  theology  ; 
and  it  is  as  varied  as  the  contents  of  Holy  Scripture, 
extending  into  the  Old  Testament  as  connected  mainly 
with  the  physical  sciences,  and  into  the  New  Testament 
as  connected  chiefly  with  the  psychical  sciences.  It 
would  be  impossible,  in  a  few  lectures,  to  traverse  this 
entire  field  of  investigation,  and  exhaust  all  its  riches  of 
proof  and  illustration.  We  must  confine  ourselves  to 
the  physical  sciences,  astronomy,  geology,  anthropology ; 
and  from  these  sciences  we  shall  be  able  to  cull  only  a 
few  specimens  of  the  evidence  which  they  so  abundantly 
afford. 

Groivth  of  the  Astronomical  Evidence. 

Astronomy,  as  the  oldest  of  the  exact  sciences,  was 
the  first  to  come  into  seeming  conflict  with  revealed 
religion,  and  has  been  the  first  to  yield  it  a  large  body 
of  striking  evidence.  In  its  early  stages,  as  cultivated 
by  the  Greeks,  it  was  repelled  as  false  science  by  the 

51 


52  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

Church  Fathers,  who  continued  to  expound  the  astronom- 
ical psalms  in  a  strictly  literalistic  manner  and  des- 
canted upon  the  glory  of  God  in  the  heavens  as  there 
displayed  by  a  star-spangled  curtain  or  canopy  stretched 
over  the  earth.  In  its  later  stages,  during  the  reign  of 
the  Ptolemaic  theory,  it  was  accepted  by  the  schoolmen 
who  derived  the  same  biblical  argument,  in  a  purely 
phenomenalistic  manner,  from  an  illuminated  dome  of 
crj^stalline  spheres,  which  were  supposed  to  revolve 
around  the  earth  with  sun,  moon,  and  stars  attached  to 
them  as  means  of  j^roducing  the  wonderful  vicissitudes 
of  day  and  night,  summer  and  winter.  But  in  the  mod- 
ern stage  of  the  science,  with  the  rise  of  the  Copernican 
theory  of  the  solar  system,  the  discovery  of  the  rotun- 
dity of  our  planet  and  its  orbital  motion  around  the 
sun,  the  whole  orthodox  conception  of  heaven,  earth, 
and  hell  was  revolutionized  ;  the  literalistic  and  phe- 
nomenalistic interpretation  of  Scripture  was  abandoned  ; 
the  ancient  canopy  of  the  sky  was  rent  in  twain ;  the 
great  dome  of  the  crystalline  heavens  was  dashed  to 
pieces ;  and  there  issued  a  breach  between  the  Bible  and 
astronomy,  more  alarming  than  any  that  now  seems  to 
yawn  between  the  Bible  and  other  sciences.  It  was  as 
if  the  very  throne  of  God  had  been  removed  from  the 
firmament,  the  abode  of  the  angels  destroyed,  and  any- 
thing like  a  revelation  to  our  little  world  made  impossi- 
ble. Galileo  was  compelled  upon  his  knees  to  abjure 
his  discoveries  as  deadly  heresies.  Nevertheless,  as 
the  new  astronomy  gradually  compelled  assent  and  ad- 
miration, efforts  were  made  to  readjust  it  to  the  Script- 
ures by  a  more  scientific  interpretation,  which  should 
magnify  divine  revelation  in  consistency  with  the  pop- 
ular and  phenomenalistic  language  in  which  it  had  nec« 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  53 

essarily  been  conveyed.  It  was  found  that,  after  all, 
the  rationale  of  the  biblical  argument,  which  the  fathers 
and  schoolmen  had  so  crudely  conceived  and  imper- 
fectly used,  remained  unimpaired,  and  in  fact  could  now 
be  based  upon  more  unquestionable  premises,  and 
unfolded  with  a  more  Avonderful  richness  and  potency. 
The  divine  glory  in  the  heavens,  being  no  longer  ob- 
scured by  a  false  astronomy  and  a  false  exegesis,  began 
to  shine  forth  with  all  the  added  brilliance  of  myriads 
of  suns  and  planets,  and  the  Scriptures  acquired  a  fuller 
meaning  indicative  of  the  omniscience  Avhich  had  in- 
spired them.  The  result  is,  that  a  science  which  at 
first  so  seriously  menaced  revealed  truth  is  now  yield- 
ing it  abundant  evidence.  AVe  shall  find  by  adducing 
a  few  specimens,  that  it  affords  each  of  the  four  spe- 
cies of  evidence  which  were  described  in  the  introduc- 
tory lecture. 

Testimony  of  Astronomers. 

The  first  is  the  testimony  of  the  chief  authorities  of 
the  science.  It  is  not  surprising  that  astronomers,  as  a  / 
class,  should  be  devout  and  Christian.  The  grandeur  of 
the  starry  universe,  and  the  impotence  of  human  reason  to 
comprehend  it,  conspire  to  lift  their  thoughts  toward  the 
Creator  as  its  only  adequate  cause,  and  justify  the  poets' 
verdict  that  any  intellect  must  be  abnormal  that  can 
resist  such  impressions — "An  undevout  astronomer  is 
mad."  Certainly  the  exceptions  can  be  better  explained 
by  some  idiosyncrasy,  or  defect  of  training,  or  inveterate 
prejudice,  than  by  any  supposed  sceptical  tendency  in 
the  science  itself.  If  Lalande  could  jestingly  dismiss 
religious  considerations  from  the  field  of  astronomy,  he 
spake  as  an  atheist  and  a  revolutionist  rather  than  as  the 


54  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

accomplished  astronomer  that  he  was.  It  is  said  that 
Laplace  never  mentioned  the  name  of  the  Supreme 
Being  without  a  reverent  gesture,  and  when,  therefore, 
the  French  King  remarked  that  he  seemed  to  have 
allowed  no  place  for  a  God  in  his  cosmogonic  specula- 
tions, it  was  simply,  as  a  strict  scientist,  not  as  an  athe- 
ist, he  replied,  that  he  did  not  need  the  hypothesis  of  a 
God  in  so  purely  empirical  and  inductive  an  inquiry. 
The  examples  of  unbelieving  astronomers  have  been 
few,  and  many  of  them,  when  historically  traced,  will  be 
found  to  have  been  less  astronomers  than  unbelievers 
who  have  made  their  little  knowledge  do  service  to  their 
prejudices. 

Devout  Astronomers. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find  that  nearly  all  the  great 
names  in  the  science  have  been  harmoniously  associated 
with  the  Christian  faith.  The  chief  discoverer  of  modern 
astronomy,  Copernicus,  lived  as  a  faithful  priest,  and 
died,  requesting  that  his  epitaph  might  be  the  prayer  of 
the  penitent  thief  on  the  cross,  "  Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  in  thy  Kingdom."  Galileo  did  not 
abjure  the  Holy  Gospels  upon  which  he  was  forced  to 
abjure  the  opinion  of  the  earth's  mobility.  Kepler,  as 
he  cried  Eureka  at  the  close  of  his  researches  into  the 
motions  of  the  planet  Mars,  declared  that  he  could  wait 
a  century  for  a  reader,  since  the  Almighty  had  waited 
thousands  of  years  for  a  discoverer.  Newton,  after  dis- 
covering and  proclaiming  the  law  of  God  in  the  heavens, 
turned  devoutly  to  study  that  other  law  of  God  revealed 
in  his  holy  Word.  The  Herschels,  father  and  son,  had 
their  tomb  inscribed  to  that  divine  faithfulness  which  is 
established  in  the  heavens  and  on  earth,  and  in  their 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  55 

family  maintained  from  one  generation  to  another.  The 
brilliant  and  versatile  Arago  did  not  deem  it  unscientific 
to  support  his  celestial  speculations  with  religious  truths 
and  arguments.  The  late  Stephen  Alexander  thought 
of  himself  as  a  child  spelling  out  the  divine  story  of  the 
stars,  and  crowned  his  life-long  studies  with  a  matured 
confession  of  his  faith.  And  the  great  living  astrono- 
mers, with  scarcely  an  exception,  have  let  it  appear  that 
Christian  truth  is  either  theoretically  or  practically 
combined  with  their  astronomical  knoAvledge. 

Revealed  Truths  in  Astronomy. 

The  second  source  of  evidence  is  found  in  the  perfect 
agreement  of  astronomical  facts  with  revealed  truths. 
This  will  appear  by  simply  bringing  the  two  together 
and  observing  their  correlations ;  in  other  words,  con- 
necting what  has  been  certainly  discovered  with  what 
has  been  surely  revealed  in  reference  to  the  heavenly 
bodies.  On  the  one  hand,  it  has  been  discovered, 
contrary  to  all  appearances,  that  our  earth  is  a  huge 
globe  or  planet  poised  in  space  Avith  the  moon  as  its 
satellite  ;  that  the  sun  and  stars  are  also  great  globes, 
but  immensely  larger  in  size  and  inconceivably  distant ; 
that  the  stars  are  innumerable  companies  of  these  suns, 
planets,  and  satellites,  under  fixed  mechanical  laws, 
careering,  with  incredible  swiftness,  through  orbits  and 
periods,  practically  infinite  in  space  and  time.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  been  revealed,  in  the  common  lan- 
guage of  appearances,  that  the  heavens  declare  the  glory 
of  God ;  that  by  his  understanding  hath  he  made  them 
and  garnished  them  by  his  Spirit ;  that  his  throne  is 
over  the  heavens,  and  in  the  heavens  hath  he  established 


56  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

his  faithfulness  ;  and  that  He  is  the  High  and  Lofty  One 
who  inhabiteth  eternity  and  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens 
cannot  contain.  Now,  is  there  any  contrariety  between 
these  scientific  facts  and  these  religious  truths  ?  Are 
they  not  rather  the  logical  complements  or  counterparts 
of  one  another  ?  In  the  view  of  philosophy  as  well  as 
of  faith,  what  were  the  vast  celestial  mechanism  without 
some  sufficient  cause,  such  as  the  revealed  Jehovah,  to 
give  it  rational  support  and  consistency?  And  what 
were  that  revealed  Jehovah  without  some  adequate  illus- 
tration of  his  infinite  attributes,  such  as  astronomy  alone 
can  afford  ?  Take  either  without  the  other  and  see  what 
would  remain.  Take  astronomy  without  the  Bible  and 
there  would  remain  a  mere  causeless  and  purposeless 
mass  of  worlds,  sun,  planet,  and  satellite,  whirling  blindly 
through  the  ages  toward  nothingness.  Take  the  Bible 
without  astronomy,  and  there  would  remain  the  infinite 
and  absolute  Jehovah  enthroned  in  the  skies  of  our  little 
planet  as  the  only  scene  of  his  abode.  But  bring  the 
two  together,  and  at  once  the  author  of  Scripture  be- 
comes the  author  of  nature  with  all  his  revealed  attri- 
butes in  full  manifestation  ;  with  his  immensity  extend- 
ing through  the  boundless  regions  of  celestial  space ; 
with  his  eternity  unfolding  through  the  endless  periods 
of  celestial  time ;  with  his  omnipotence  expending  its 
potential  energy  in  the  tremendous  forces  and  velocities 
of  the  celestial  orbs ;  with  his  immutability  expressed  in 
the  mechanical  and  physical  laws  Avliich  govern  these 
ceaseless  movements ;  and  with  his  omniscience  dis- 
played in  a  universe  of  order  and  beauty  and  grandeur 
which  all  our  science  has  but  begun  to  apprehend. 
Astronomy  thus  yields  overwhelming  evidence  in  favor 
of  revealed  religion. 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  57 

Critical  Questions. 

And  this  evidence  is  quite  independent  of  any  ques- 
tion raised  by  literary  criticism  as  to  the  origin,  compo- 
sition, and  inspiration  of  the  Bible  itself.  The  most  ex- 
treme ground  may  be  taken  in  regard  to  such  questions. 
Let  it  be  assumed  that  Genesis,  the  Book  of  Job,  the 
Psalms,  and  other  scriptures  which  contain  astronomical 
allusions  were  written  by  unknown  authors,  or  compiled 
from  pre-existing  documents,  or  derived  from  some 
primeval  revelation  in  the  form  of  mere  legendary 
fragments.  Yet  the  fact  remains  that  in  this  ancient 
book  alone  can  be  found  that  pure  sublime  theism 
which  astronomy  now  requires,  verifies,  and  illustrates. 
Let  it  also  be  granted  that  our  modern  astronomy  was 
wholly  unknown  to  the  sacred  writers,  whilst  they  were 
freely  speaking  as  organs  of  revelation,  and  that  the 
psalmist  beheld  in  the  firmament  nothing  more  than  a 
star-lit  expanse  or  an  embroidered  canopy  Avr ought  by 
the  Divine  fingers.  Yet  it  will  still  be  true  that  in  the 
light  of  science  his  inspired  words  have  acquired  an  in- 
finite meaning  which  no  mere  human  genius  could  fore- 
see and  of  which  he  may  never  have  dreamed  when  he 
exclaimed,  "The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God." 

The  demonstrated  portion  of  astronomy,  known  as 
descriptive  astronomy  or  celestial  mechanics,  affords 
evidence  of  those  revealed  attributes  of  Jehovah  which 
imply  his  relations  to  the  material  universe,  to  illimi- 
table space,  time,  matter,  and  force,  such  as  immensity, 
eternity,  omnipotence,  immutability,  omniscience,  to- 
gether with  some  incidental  proofs  of  the  divine  wisdom 
and  goodness  in  the  adaptation  of  the  celestial  system 
to  our  planet  and  its  inhabitants. 


58  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 


Evidential  Literature, 

AVitli  the  rise  of  the  modern  astronomy  such  concep- 
tions were  inevitable,  if  not  irresistible  in  all  religious 
literature.  The  earlier  astronomers  themselves,  such 
as  Copernicus,  Kepler,  and  Newton,  did  not  scruple  to 
mingle  pious  reflections  Avith  their  scientific  discoveries, 
llichard  Bentley,  the  first  Boyle  lecturer,  in  his  sermons 
on  the  "  Confutation  of  Atheism,"  from  a  survey  of  the 
origin  and  frame  of  the  world,  expounded  the  Principia 
of  Newton  against  the  Epicurean  doctrine  of  eternal 
matter  and  motion,  at  the  same  time  unfolding  scientif- 
ically that  ancient  proof  of  the  divine  beauty  and  order 
of  the  firmament,  the  cosmos  and  mundus,  which  kin- 
dled the  adoration  of  Plato  and  Cicero  no  less  than  of 
Moses  and  David.  William  Derham,  the  learned  Can- 
on of  Windsor,  whose  once  popular  "  Astro-theology" 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  distinct  treatise  of  the  kind, 
also  demonstrated  the  being  and  attributes  of  God  from 
a  survey  of  the  heavens,  especially  enlarging  upon  the 
usefulness  of  the  celestial  "  globes  "  as  then  for  the  first 
time  becoming  apparent  in  their  ascertained  figures, 
motions,  orbits,  and  attractions.  The  versatile  Wins- 
ton, in  like  manner,  treated  of  the  "  Astronomical  Prin- 
ciples of  Natural  and  Eevealed  Religion,"  on  the  basis 
of  the  Newtonian  philosophy.  And  the  same  argument 
Avas  continued  by  Ray  and  Paley.  Dr.  Whewell,  in  his 
Bridge  water  Treatise  on  the  "  Connection  of  Astronomy 
with  Natural  Theology,"  still  more  scientifically  vindi- 
cated the  benevolent  design  of  the  cosmical  arrange- 
ments against  the  insinuation  of  Laplace  that  it  was 
easy  to  conceive  of  a  better  solar  system  or  of  one  more 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  59 

advantageously  adapted  to  human  welfare.  The  late 
Professor  Ormsby  Mitchell,  in  his  "  Astronomy  of  the 
Bible,"  not  only  sought  to  illustrate  the  divine  omnipo- 
tence, eternity,  immutability,  and  wisdom  from  the 
celestial  mechanism  but  to  discern  an  occult  inspired 
acquaintance  with  it  in  the  very  language  of  the  Script- 
ures ;  finding  in  the  Hebrew  expression  of  Job,  "  the 
sockets  of  the  earth,"  implied  knowledge  of  its  diurnal 
rotation,  and  in  the  binding  "  influences  of  the  Plei- 
ades" an  anticipatory  allusion  to  the  attraction  of  the 
solar  system,  and  other  astral  systems,  about  a  centre 
of  universal  gravity,  which  Madler  has  placed  in  that 
constellation.  And  hosts  of  popular  writers,  not  pro- 
fessed astronomers,  but  accepting  their  discoveries  and 
embodying  the  results  in  magazines,  lectures,  and  ser- 
mons, are  still  unfolding  the  astronomical  argument  for 
the  being  and  attributes  of  deity  as  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures. 

Astronomical  Hypotheses, 

The  third  source  of  evidence  is  found  in  the  provis- 
ional agreement  of  astronomical  hypotheses  with  re- 
vealed doctrines.  Leaving  the  ascertained  facts  of  the 
science,  we  now  enter  the  field  of  its  unsolved  problems 
concerning  the  origin,  the  development,  and  the  destiny 
of  the  celestial  universe.  As  to  each  of  these  problems 
we  shall  find  astronomers  holding  rival  hypotheses  with 
purely  scientific  motives  and  from  no  religious  bias 
whatever.  And  these  hypotheses,  being  still  imperfect 
and  conflicting,  might  simply  be  left  unnoticed  so  far  as 
they  seem  to  menace  revealed  doctrines,  but  if  brought 
into  relation  with  such  doctrines  can  be  hopefully  ad- 
justed to  them  by  showing  that  at  their  worst  they 


60  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

would  only  require  some  modification  of  our  existing  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture ;  that  they  are  already  more  or 
less  reconcilable  with  Scripture  ;  and  meanwhile,  which- 
ever of  them  shall  at  length  prevail,  the  one  essential 
truth  of  Scripture  remains  untouched  and  indestructi- 
ble, if  not  greatly  enhanced  and  illustrated.  In  other 
words,  astronomy  even  in  its  most  problematical  and 
hypothetical  portions  admits  of  prospective  harmony 
with  revealed  religion. 

A  Primitive  Cosmos. 

As  to  the  first  of  the  unsolved  problems,  the  origin  of 
the  celestial  universe,  rival  hypotheses  have  been  held 
almost  from  the  dawn  of  the  science.  The  one  hypoth- 
esis is  that  of  a  primitive  cosmos  or  mundus,  which  from 
the  beginning  has  continued  and  ever  since  remained  as 
a  finished  Avorld  of  order  and  beauty.  Not  a  few  as- 
tronomers, in  a  strict  scientific  spirit,  such  as  Galileo, 
the  younger  Herschel,  Lamont,  and  Newcomb,  have  ab- 
stained from  speculative  inquiries  into  the  origin  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  as  unknowable,  except  on  metaphysical 
or  religious  grounds,  and  have  confined  their  researches 
to  the  existing  order  of  things  as  now  proceeding  under 
fixed  mechanical  and  physical  laws.  In  their  view,  our 
solar  system,  as  we  now  know  it,  whatever  may  have 
been  its  primitive  condition,  is  a  piece  of  self-adjusting 
mechanism,  ever  maintaining  its  equilibrium  against 
disorder ;  and  the  planetary  bodies  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed, the  sun  as  a  great  globe  of  fire  at  the  centre ;  tor- 
rid Mercury ;  fair,  bright  Venus ;  snow-capped  Earth  ; 
blood-red  Mars;  belted  Jupiter;  Saturn  with  double 
rings   and  moons;    Uranus   and   Neptune,   wandering 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  61 

darkly  in  the  outermost  void,  are  but  so  many  different 
species  of  cosmic  forms  with  no  more  trace  of  transition 
or  development  than  we  can  find  in  the  different  species 
of  organic  forms  of  plants  and  animals  which  subsist 
side  by  side  in  our  planet.  In  like  manner,  beyond  our 
solar  system,  throughout  infinite  space,  are  innumerable 
other  solar  systems,  or  stellar  systems,  each  star  a  sun 
with  planets,  revolving  around  some  universal  centre  of 
gravity,  and  displaying  other  cosmic  forms  as  incon- 
ceivable to  us  as  the  scenery,  flora,  and  fauna  of  unvis- 
ited  countries.  And  it  is  claimed  that  the  telescope  has 
proved  the  truth  of  the  hypothesis  by  resolving  the 
nebulae  or  cloud-like  masses  of  the  Milky  Way  into  clus- 
tered suns,  even  galaxies  of  suns,  all  together  compris- 
ing a  fixed  series  of  worlds,  or  scale  of  cosmic  types, 
varying  from  the  crudest  asteroid  that  wanders  in  space 
up  to  the  most  richly  garnished  planet  that  careers 
around  the  Central  Sun  of  the  Universe. 

A  Primitive  Chaos, 

The  other  hypothesis  is  that  of  a  primitive  chaos  or 
crude  material  mass  from  which  the  existing  universe 
w^as  developed  and  is  still  advancing  through  various 
stages  of  progress.  Accepting  this  Oriental  and  He- 
brew conception,  some  astronomers,  with  a  specula- 
tive turn  of  mind,  like  Kepler,  Laplace,  Herschel  and 
Humboldt,  instead  of  limiting  their  researches  to  the 
heavenly  bodies  as  they  now  appear,  have  sought  to  trace 
them  back  under  fixed  mechanical  and  physical  laws  of 
evolution  to  their  original  condition.  From  their  point 
of  view,  our  Solar  System,  uncounted  ages  ago,  was  a 
vast  nebula  or  fiery  cloud  which,  as  it  whirled  in  swift 


62  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  HELTQION 

vortices,  cooled  and  condensed,  first  into  a  central 
igneous  body  like  the  Sun ;  then  into  rotating  rings 
like  those  around  the  planet  Saturn ;  then  successively 
into  gaseous  and  watery  globes,  like  Jupiter  and  Ura- 
nus ;  and  at  length  into  solid  shells  like  that  which  en- 
closes the  fiery  core  of  our  Earth  as  a  finished  world  of 
mature  growth.  In  like  manner  the  whole  sidereal 
region  of  space  beyond  our  solar  system,  Avith  all  its 
constellations,  is  supposed  to  be  a  vast  nursery  of 
worlds  in  different  degrees  of  cosmic  development,  co- 
existing like  trees  in  a  forest,  but  so  distant  that  the 
most  brilliant  suns  can  now  appear  only  as  lucid  dots  in 
a  film  of  light  long  ages  after  their  rays  have  reached  the 
eye  of  man.  And  it  is  now  claimed  that  the  spectro- 
scope is  verifying  the  truth  of  this  speculation  by  re- 
vealing in  the  chemical  constitution  of  different  stars 
the  successive  phases  of  nebula,  sun  and  planet,  as 
plainly  as  you  can  trace  the  seed  bursting  into  the  leaf 
and  the  flower  at  your  feet. 

Hie  Doctrine  of  Creation, 

Now,  in  more  or  less  direct  relation  to  these  two  as- 
tronomical hypotheses  stands  the  revealed  doctrine  of 
creation  : — that  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth  ;  that  wisdom  was  with  Him  when 
He  prepared  the  heavens  ;  that  by  His  word  or  rea- 
son the  world  was  made  and  without  it  nothing  was 
made  that  was  made,  and  that  through  faith  we  under- 
stand that  the  worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of  God, 
so  that  things  which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things 
which  do  appear.  And  the  state  of  the  question  is 
this  :  If  we  accept  one  of  these  hypotheses  our  existing 


THE  EVIDENCE  PROM  ASTR0X03IT  C3 

iuterpretation  of  Scripture  remains  undisturbed;  if 
we  accept  the  other,  it  can  be  favorably  modified  ;  but 
whichever  shall  at  length  prevail,  the  error  will  have 
been  solely  in  our  fallible  interpretation  and  not  in  that 
infallible  word  of  God  which  abideth  forever.  Take  the 
hypothesis  of  a  primitive  cosmos,  or  of  finished  worlds 
of  order  and  beauty,  and  then,  in  accordance  with  the 
long  received  and  still  popular  conception  of  an  instan- 
taneous creation,  the  whole  assemblage  of  suns  and 
planets  will  ap^oear  starting  into  being  full-born  as  by  a 
fiat  of  Jehovah.  Take  the  other  hypothesis  of  a  prim- 
itive chaos,  or  of  worlds  in  different  stages  of  evolu- 
tion, and  then,  in  accordance  with  the  newer  and  more 
scientific  conception  of  a  continuous  creation,  an  end- 
less variety  of  suns  and  planets  will  be  seen  ever  unfold- 
ing the  infinite  attributes  of  Jehovah  in  all  their  rich- 
ness and  glory.  But  whichever  hypothesis  you  take, 
Avhether  you  conceive  of  creation  as  an  act  or  as  a  proc- 
ess, it  will  still  be  true,  as  it  always  has  been  and 
always  will  be  true,  that  "  in  the  beginning  God  created 
the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

Our  Planet  Alone  Inhabited. 

The  second  unsolved  problem  relates  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  heavenly  bodies  into  habitable  worlds  ;  and 
for  its  solution  two  conflicting  speculations  have  long 
been  current.  Some  astronomers,  like  Galileo,  Herschel, 
Whewell,  and  Proctor,  have  maintained  that  our  planet 
is  the  only  inhabited  world.  It  has  been  argued  that 
other  worlds  do  not  possess  the  organic  conditions  of 
habitability ;  that  the  asteroids  and  comets  are  plainly 
incapable  of  sustaining  life  ;  that  the  Moon  is  like  an 


64  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

extinct  crater  without  even  an  atmosphere ;  that  the 
Sun  is  but  a  ball  of  incandescent  mist ;  that  the  inner 
planets,  Mercury  and  Venus,  are  composed  of  cinder 
and  slag ;  that  the  outer  planets,  Jupiter  and  Uranus, 
are  mere  globes  of  water  and  ice,  while  our  Earth  is 
situated  between  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  in  that 
temjDerate  zone  of  the  Solar  System  where  alone  the 
life  of  sentient  and  intellectual  beings  has  become 
possible.  As  to  the  innumerable  suns  and  planets 
which  are  supposed  to  be  clustered  together  in  the 
constellations,  in  Orion,  Cassiopea,  and  Capella,  it  has 
been  boldly  surmised  that  these  are  not  worlds  at  all, 
but  mere  sparks,  meteors  and  comets,  still  coruscating 
throughout  the  heavens  from  the  great  fire-wheel  of 
that  solar  nebula  of  which  our  planet  is  the  most  sub- 
stantial remnant.  And  it  is  also  urged  that  geology,  by 
showing  how  many  ages  have  rolled  away  ere  the  earth 
could  have  become  ready  for  man,  has  rendered  the 
chances  as  millions  to  one  against  any  other  world  than 
ours  being  inhabited  at  the  present  time. 

Otlier  Planets  Also  Habit  able. 

Other  astronomers,  however,  such  as  Kepler,  New- 
ton, Arago,  Oersted,  Flammarion,  have  favored  the 
idea  of  a  plurality  of  inhabited  worlds.  In  support  of 
this  idea  it  has  been  maintained  that  there  may  be 
forms  of  planetary  life  and  intelligence  for  which  our 
planet  affords  no  analogies  ;  that  some  of  the  planets  at 
least,  like  Mars  and  Venus,  have  climatic  zones,  seas 
and  continents,  suggestive  of  their  habitability ;  that 
if  others,  like  Mercury  and  the  Moon,  have  long  since 
passed  the  habitable  stage  and  become  extinct  worlds, 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  65 

yet  Jupiter  and  Saturn  are  but  advancing  in  an  earlier 
stage  and  will  yet  become  encrusted  with  strata,  fur- 
nished with  florge  and  faunae,  and  tenanted  b}^  intellect- 
ual races  ;  and  that  even  the  Sun  itself  bears  thronging 
inhabitants  upon  the  opaque  body  hidden  behind  his 
dazzling  photosphere.  It  is  declared  that  no  limit  can 
be  set  to  the  prodigal  richness  of  Nature.  With  daring- 
fancy  the  speculation  has  been  pushed  into  the  stellar 
regions,  and  the  ponderous  globes,  gross  organisms,  and 
meagre  furniture  of  our  solar  system  have  been  put  in 
contrast  with  sublimated  spheres  of  light  in  Cassiopea, 
Orion,  and  Capella,  where  myriads  of  ethereal  creatures 
are  supposed  to  bask  under  many  colored  suns  in  eter- 
nal summer  and  perpetual  youth.  And  it  is  even  an- 
ticipated, in  proof  of  the  speculation,  that  the  spectro- 
scope may  yet  reveal  conditions  of  life  on  the  remotest 
stars,  and  that  upon  some  of  the  nearer  planets  will  soon 
be  descried  by  the  telescope  such  works  of  art  and 
genius  as  have  no  type  or  semblance  in  the  wildest  ro- 
mances of  our  little  orb. 

The  Doctrine  of  Angels. 

Here  again  the  state  of  the  question  is  the  same  as  in 
the  previous  problem.  Two  opposite  speculations  of  as- 
tronomers are  to  be  adjusted  to  the  revealed  doctrine  of 
angels.  That  doctrine  is,  that  Jehovah  is  worshipped 
by  the  whole  host  of  heaven  in  the  very  heaven  of  heav- 
ens ;  and  that  the  heavens  are  the  abode  of  the  Father 
and  the  angels,  even  of  our  Father  who  is  in  the  heav- 
ens and  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  named.  As  yet,  we  have  no  final  interpretation  of 
these  and  other  like  Scriptures  and  no  full  comprehen- 
5 


66  EVIDENCE.^  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

sion  of  their  meaning.  On  the  first  supposition,  that 
our  world  alone  is  inhabited,  the  long  received  interpre- 
tation can  be  retained.  The  biblical  heavens  will  con- 
tinue to  be  viewed  as  a  mere  appurtenance  of  our 
Earth.  The  unseen  hosts  of  angels  and  archangels, 
dominions,  principalities,  powers,  may  be  fancied,  ac- 
cording to  the  Dantean  conception,  ascending  rank 
above  rank,  toward  the  empyrean  above  our  atmosphere, 
where  the  Trinity  is  ever  enthroned  as  the  object  of 
their  ceaseless  worship.  On  the  other  supposition,  how- 
ever, that  other  worlds  as  well  as  ours  are  inhabited, 
this  picture  would  vanish  and  the  old  interpretation  be 
changed.  Our  mental  horizon  would  expand  beyond  our 
planet,  beyond  the  solar  system,  into  the  very  heaven 
of  heavens,  until  it  embraced  the  whole  amphitheatre 
of  countless  worlds  with  the  angelical  hierarchies  dwell- 
ing in  them  as  in  the  many  mansions  of  our  Father's 
house.  And  to  the  physical  affinities  between  their 
dwellings  and  ours,  would  be  added  their  spiritual  at- 
traction toward  our  earth  as  the  scene  of  a  special 
theophany  with  unfolding  mysteries  into  which  they 
desire  to  look,  and  every  trophy  of  which,  though  but 
one  repenting  sinner,  they  hail  with  joy.  Be  all  this, 
however,  as  it  may,  to  whatever  extent  we  seek  to  iden- 
tify the  biblical  with  the  astronomical  heavens,  the  rev- 
elation standeth  sure,  that  the  heavens  are  the  abode  of 
the  angelic  hosts,  and  that  now  unto  principalities  and 
powers  in  heavenly  places  is  made  known  by  the  church 
that  manifold  wisdom,  the  mystery  of  human  redemp- 
tion which  was  hidden  in  the  bosom  of  God  from  the 
beginning. 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  67 


A  Final  Chaos. 

The  third  problem  refers  to  the  destiny  of  the  celes- 
tial universe ;  and  for  its  solution  two  opinions  have 
been  advanced.  Some  astronomers  and  astronomical 
writers,  like  Newton,  Helmholtz,  Stephen  Alexander, 
and  Winchell,  have  inclined  to  the  notion  of  a  final 
chaos.  Amid  all  the  order  and  beauty  of  the  heavenly 
worlds  they  have  read  signs  of  decay  and  warnings  of 
disaster.  It  has  been  held  that  the  incursion  of  comets 
is  ever  a  menace  to  the  stability  of  the  solar  system  ; 
that  its  own  perturbations  are  cumulative  and  destruc- 
tive ;  that  the  planets  are  cooling,  shrinking,  and  spin- 
ning more  feebly  in  their  orbits,  and  slowly  losing  their 
life-bearing  powers  ;  that  the  Moon  is  already  a  dead 
world,  with  its  pallid  face  upturned  to  the  Sun  ;  that  the 
tires  of  the  Sun  itself  are  steadily  dying  out ;  and  that 
sooner  or  later  the  time  must  come  when  sun,  planet, 
and  satellite  shall  be  precipitated  together  and  collapse 
into  the  igneous  dust  from  which  they  sprang.  It  is 
taken  as  an  axiom  that  there  can  be  no  perpetual  mo- 
tion in  the  machinery  of  the  heavens,  and  that  the  po- 
tential energy  of  the  universe  must  at  length  be  dissi- 
pated. The  presage  of  disaster  has  been  carried  beyond 
our  solar  system  into  the  sidereal  heavens,  and  the  nebu- 
lous forms  of  the  broken  ring,  the  firewheel,  and  the 
spiral  are  supposed  to  indicate  a  stupendous  disruption 
and  dispersion  of  suns  and  systems  throughout  those 
distant  parts  of  the  universe.  And  as  if  to  make  the 
prediction  more  plausible  its  advocates  have  depicted 
the  awful  scene  which  must  ensue  when  inexorable  laws 
have  run  their  course,  and  the  planets  shall  have  turn- 


68  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

bled  as  charred  ruins  into  the  sun,  and  the  sun  shall 
have  fallen  like  an  exhausted  warrior,  among  the  dying 
stars,  and  universal  night  and  death  shall  have  settled 
upon  the  spent  powers  of  Nature. 

A  Permanent  Cosmos, 

Another  class  of  astronomers,  however,  like  Laplace, 
Madler,  Mayer,  and  Poisson,  have  leaned  toward  the 
notion  of  a  permanent  cosmos.  In  spite  of  any  signs 
of  occasional  disturbance  in  the  celestial  system,  they 
have  gathered  auguries  of  all  -  preserving  order  and 
never-failing  beauty.  The  popular  dread  of  comets, 
they  tell  us,  has  already  been  dissipated  by  showing 
their  vaporous  nature  and  periodical  recurrence;  and 
it  has  been  mathematically  proved  that  the  perturba- 
tions of  the  solar  system  are  self-correcting  and  conser- 
vative ;  that  there  is  no  uncompensated  shrinkage  and 
cooling  of  its  great  masses ;  that  the  furnace  of  the  Sun 
is  ever  fed  by  meteors  and  aerolites ;  and  the  planets 
ever  supplied  with  heat  and  light  to  insure  their  life- 
bearing  powers.  It  is  assumed  that  there  is  a  per- 
petual conservation  as  well  as  dissipation  of  the  energy 
of  the  universe.  The  hopeful  prevision  has  been  ex- 
tended throughout  the  stellar  regions,  where  the  nebu- 
lous forms  and  star  clusters  are  to  be  viewed,  not  as 
painted  in  our  distorting  fancy,  but  as  so  many  astral 
systems,  revolving  with  our  own  solar  system,  around 
the  bright  star  in  Alcyone,  through  millennial  summers 
and  winters,  with  ever-changing  climates  and  histories. 
And  as  if  to  crown  the  splendid  vision,  it  has  even  been 
boldly  conjectured,  that  the  evolution  of  nebulae  into 
planets  and  dissolution  of  planets  into  nebula?,  if  they 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  69 

occur,  may  be  periodic  rather  than  catastrophic,  a  sort 
of  normal  birth  and  death  of  worlds,  throughout  infinite 
space  and  time. 

The  Doctrine  of  Old  and  Neiv  Heavens, 

It  will  be  seen,  at  a  glance,  how  the  two  astronomical 
opinions  bear  upon  the  revealed  doctrine  of  the  de- 
struction and  renewal  of  the  heavens.  Each  has  in  it 
an  element  of  truth  which  is  in  accordance  with  Script- 
ure, while  both  together  tend  to  unfold  its  full  mean- 
ing. On  the  one  hand,  the  opinion  of  a  final  chaos  or 
dissolution  of  planets,  as  Helmholtz  admits,  will  answer 
quite  well  to  the  biblical  descriptions  of  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, as  depicted  in  popular  language,  when  the  sun 
shall  be  darkened,  the  moon  shall  become  as  blood,  the 
stars  shall  fall  like  meteors,  the  heavens  shall  pass 
away  with  a  great  noise,  and  vanish  like  smoke,  and  the 
elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  oj^inion  of  an  ensuing  or  fresh  evolution  of 
planets  is  in  agreement  with  the  prediction  of  Isaiah, 
the  vivid  picture  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  vision  of  St.  John 
in  the  Apocalypse,  that  after  the  first  heaven  and  the 
first  earth  shall  have  passed,  Jehovah  shall  create  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  purged  by  the  fires  of  judg- 
ment, as  an  abode  of  righteousness.  And  then,  taking 
the  two  opinions  together,  we  shall  understand  anew  the 
transitoriness  of  the  whole  visible  heavens  as  viewed 
by  the  Psalmist  and  the  Apostle,  in  contrast  with  the 
eternal  Jehovah,  who  wears  them  as  but  the  changing 
garb  of  his  glory :  *'  The  heavens  are  the  work  of  thy 
hands  :  they  shall  perish,  but  thou  remainest :  yea  all 
of  them  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment ;  and  as  a  vest- 


70  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

lire  shalt  thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be  changed ; 
but  thou  art  the  same  and  thy  years  fail  not." 

Tlie  Stupendous  Problems  of  Astronomy. 

The  whole  speculative  problem  of  astronomy,  as  now 
brought  before  us,  has  become  too  vast  for  the  mind  of 
man  to  compass.  The  spectacle  of  evolving  and  dissolv- 
ing planets,  suns,  and  galaxies,  in  our  bewildered  fancy, 

"  Glitters  like  a  swarm  of  fireflies  tangled  in  a  silver  braid." 

No  hand  of  man  can  unravel  it.  We  can  solve  the 
problem  only  by  the  aid  of  revelation.  If  we  yield  our- 
selves to  scientific  evolutionism  alone,  it  will  land  us 
in  the  pessimistic  view  of  a  universe  at  once  causeless 
and  purposeless,  beginning  in  irrational  force  and  end- 
ing in  impotent  reason.  But  if  we  blend  such  evo- 
lutionism with  the  biblical  theism  we  may  rise  to  the 
view  of  a  universe  of  order  and  beauty,  originating  in 
the  potential  energy  of  one  Absolute  Will  and  unfold- 
ing the  purposes  of  one  Infinite  Keason,  even  that  re- 
vealed Creator  who  inhabits  yet  controls  his  own  crea- 
tion, immanent  yet  transcendent,  making  and  unmaking 
world  after  world,  world  without  end,  yet  ever  remaining 
the  eternal  and  self-existent  Jehovah,  I-am-that-I-am, 
the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  Beginning  and  the  End, 
which  was  and  is  and  is  to  come,  the  Everlasting,  of 
whom  and  through  whom  are  all  things,  to  whom  alone 
be  glory. 

Astronomical  llarvels. 

The  fourth  source  of  evidence  is  found  in  a  compari- 
son <jf  the  marvels  of  modern    astronomj^  with  corre- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  71 

spondent  miracles  of  revealed  religion.  Leaving  the 
speculative  region  of  the  science  and  descending  from 
the  distant  worlds  in  which  as  yet  we  have  no  conscious 
interest,  we  return  into  the  narrow  scene  of  our  planet 
to  consider  the  celestial  prodigies  which  have  there  oc- 
curred in  its  own  history,  such  as  the  Arrest  of  the  Sun 
and  Moon  at  Ajalon,  the  Keceding  Shadow  on  the  Dial 
of  Ahas,  and  the  Star  of  the  Nativity.  In  a  full  treat-  / 
ment  of  these  miracles  it  would  be  proper  to  raise  and 
settle  some  exegetical  questions  before  deciding  upon 
their  strictly  astronomical  character  and  historical 
truth.  AVe  might  inquire  if  the  command  of  Jehovah 
to  the  sun  and  moon  to  stand  still  at  the  battle  of 
Ajalon  was  not  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  a  bold  trope  in 
a  poetical  narrative,  or  if  it  meant  more  than  that  the 
sun  should  stop  shining  during  the  storm  which  fol- 
lowed, or  if  the  phenomenon  was  not  a  long  summer 
twilight  caused  by  a  fortunate  coincidence  of  moonrise 
and  sunset,  on  the  mountain  of  Gibeon  and  in  the  valley 
of  Ajalon,  or  if,  instead  of  being  an  actual  stoppage  of 
the  sun,  with  so  tremendous  a  disturbance  of  the  whole 
solar  system,  it  may  not  have  been  only  a  brief  swaying 
of  the  earth  and  its  satellite,  having  the  same  optical  effect 
as  if  the  sun  and  moon  had  stood  still.  We  might  inquire 
if  the  phenomenalistic  language,  "  the  sun  went  back 
ten  degrees,"  at  the  prayer  of  Hezekiah,  implied  actual 
motion  of  the  sun  any  more  than  when  we  speak  of  the 
sun  rising  and  setting ;  if  the  phenomenon  witnessed 
was  other  than  a  local  refraction  of  the  sun's  rays  on  the 
face  of  the  dial ;  if  that  refraction  might  not  have  been 
caused  by  a  passing  cloud.  We  might  also  inquire  if 
the  star  which  guided  the  Chaldean  astronomers  to  the 
cradle  of  our  Lord  may  not  have  been  a  poetical  figure 


72  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

for  some  inward  light  of  the  mind  pointing  toward  Mes- 
siah as  the  object  of  their  studies  and  hopes  ;  or  some 
astrological  sign  in  the  constellation  of  the  Fish,  which 
they  regarded  as  the  symbol  of  Judea  in  the  Zodiac,  or 
a  new  apparent  star  caused  by  conjunctions  of  the  plan- 
ets Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Mars,  which  twice  occurred, 
as  Kepler  has  proved,  about  the  time  of  the  Nativity. 

Astronomical  Miracles. 

Waiving  such  inquiries,  for  the  present,  if  we  take 
these  miracles  literally  and  supernaturally  as  true  as- 
tronomical events  and  prodigies,  they  will  seem  no 
more  incredible,  a  i^riori,  than  some  astronomical  dis- 
coveries with  which  science  has  made  us  familiar. 
Grant  that  there  was  some  disturbance  of  the  relations 
of  the  earth  and  sun  at  the  battle  of  Ajalon,  jet  at  this 
moment  it  is  the  sun  which  seems  to  stand  still  while 
the  earth  goes  flying  around  it  swifter  than  a  cannon- 
ball.  Grant  that  the  sun's  rays  became  somehow  re- 
fracted in  the  dial  of  Ahaz  ;  yet  such  rays,  as  now  de- 
composed in  the  spectrum,  are  revealing  the  secrets  of 
the  most  distant  suns  in  the  universe.  Grant  that  the 
Eastern  Magi  discovered  a  new  star  in  the  skies  of  Ju- 
dea, yet  since  then  myriads  of  new  stars  have  been  dis- 
covered throughout  an  immensity  populous  with  worlds 
of  light.  Remember,  too,  that  these  miracles  were 
themselves  worthy  acts  of  divine  wisdom  and  not  mere 
achievements  of  human  prowess ;  that  the  courage  of 
Joshua  was  sustained  by  the  evident  favor  of  Heaven  ; 
that  the  faith  of  King  Hezekiah  was  strengthened 
by  a  promise  of  lengthened  daj's;  and  that  in  the 
divine  horoscope  of  Avorlds,  both  angels  and  men  hailed 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  73 

a  new-lit  orb  in  the  heaven,  as  but  the  fit  presage  of  a 
new-born  God  upon  earth.  Add  to  this,  that  the  proof 
of  astronomy  is  for  most  men  as  much  a  matter  of  hear- 
say and  tradition  as  the  proof  of  revealed  religion  ;  come 
unbiassed  to  them  both,  with  a  mind  blank  to  their  im- 
pressions, and  it  will  be  easier  to  believe  the  miracles 
of  religion  than  the  marvels  of  astronomy. 

Astronomical  Difficulties  of  Faith. 

It  must  be  granted,  however,  that  astronomy  itself 
has  occasioned  some  new  difficulties  of  faith,  which 
should  now  be  briefly  noticed,  in  order  that  its  evidence 
may  appear  complete.  So  far  as  such  difficulties  inhere 
in  the  infinitude  of  the  universe  and  the  finitude  of  our 
faculties,  neither  science  nor  religion  can  remove  them 
or  be  held  answerable  for  them,  but  may  only  palliate 
them  and  outweigh  them  with  compensating  considera- 
tions. Since  we  cannot  be  as  Gods  knowing  everything, 
it  is  an  act  of  reason  as  well  as  of  faith  to  accept  our 
lowly  position  in  creation  and  make  the  best  of  its  ad- 
vantages and  consolations.  I  shall  mention  but  two  of 
the  astronomical  difficulties  referring  you  to  authors  by 
whom  they  have  been  fully  treated. 

It  is  thought  difficult  to  conceive  of  the  omniscience 
of  Jehovah  as  extended  throughout  the  immensity  which 
astronomy  has  unfolded.  The  remoteness  and  multi- 
plicity of  the  heavenly  worlds  seem  to  make  general 
oversight  of  the  universe  inconsistent  with  special  no- 
tice of  our  little  planet  and  fitted  only  to  foster  unbelief 
and  impunity  among  its  inhabitants.  An  objector  of 
this  temper  will  soar  away  in  fancy  to  some  neighbor- 
ing planet  from  which  the  great  globe  of  the  earth  with 


74  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

its  seas  and  continents  shall  appear  no  bigger  than  the 
sun  or  moon  appears  in  our  firmament.  Starting  afresh 
in  a  flight  millions  and  millions  of  miles  beyond  the 
solar  system,  he  will  alight  upon  some  star  so  distant 
that  the  earth  will  have  disappeared  and  the  sun 
itself  become  but  another  star  sparkling  like  Sirius 
among  other  suns.  Still  winging  his  flight  among  the 
stars  tlu'ough  unimaginable  spaces  and  times,  he  will 
at  last  reach  a  point  from  which  the  suns  of  our 
galaxy  of  stars,  if  descried,  would  seem  mere  dots 
and  films  of  light  upon  the  dark  expanse  beneath  him. 
And  then,  returning  from  this  dizzying  flight,  back  to 
our  little  world,  hidden  away  among  clustered  suns  and 
planets,  like  a  lost  grain  of  sand  upon  the  shores  of 
time,  he  vyill  be  ready  to  ask  with  Eliphas,  the  sceptical 
comforter  of  Job,  "  Is  not  God  in  the  height  of  heaven  ? 
and  behold  the  height  of  the  stars,  how  high  they  are  ! 
And  thou  sayest.  How  doth  God  know  ?  Can  he  judge 
through  the  dark  cloud?" 

Illustration  of  Divine  Omniscience. 

It  sounds  like  a  paradox,  but  it  is  the  sober  truth, 
that  the  very  height  of  the  stars,  astronomically  consid- 
ered, will  help  us  to  conceive  how  God  may  know  and 
can  judge  through  the  dark  cloud.  The  argument  or 
rather  the  illustration  is  contained  in  the  ingenious  lit- 
tle treatise  entitled  "The  Stars  and  the  Earth,"  and 
is  based  upon  the  phenomena  of  interplanetary  light 
as  produced  by  waves  of  the  universal  ether  vibrating 
from  one  star  to  another.  It  is  well  known  that  light, 
like  sound,  travels  through  space  at  an  appreciable  rate 
of  velocity,  so  that  when  we  perceive  a  luminous  body 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  75 

a  certain  portion  of  time  elapses  between  the  moment  of 
emitting  its  rays  and  the  moment  of  its  becoming  visible 
to  our  eye.  This  passage  of  light  is  too  swift  to  appear 
in  the  limited  distances  between  objects  here  on  earth, 
but  in  the  mightier  scale  of  distances  between  the  earth 
and  the  planets  and  stars  it  becomes  readily  conceiva- 
ble. It  has  been  ascertained  that  some  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  are  so  remote  that  they  become  visible  to  us 
minutes  after  the  ray  of  light  has  left  them;  others 
again  so  remote  that  they  do  not  become  visible  to  us 
until  hours  have  elapsed ;  and  still  others  so  inconceiv- 
ably remote  that  long  years  and  ages  must  have  passed 
ere  their  rays  could  have  reached  the  eye  of  man.  We 
are  told  that  if  a  star  had  been  shattered  to  pieces  in 
those  far-off  regions  of  space  thousands  of  years  ago  the 
catastrophe  would  as  yet  be  imknown  in  our  corner  of 
the  universe,  and  we  might  still  seem  to  see  the  star 
shining  where  it  had  long  since  been  blotted  from  the 
firmament.  Reversing  the  point  of  view  from  the  earth 
to  the  stars,  if  we  now  imagine  our  sceptical  objector 
endowed  with  telescopic  vision  in  his  flight  of  fancy 
from  orb  to  orb  through  endless  space,  he  would  not 
descry  what  is  now  passing  on  the  earth,  but  what  has 
already  passed  hours  or  years  ago,  in  the  days  of  King 
Alfred,  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  in  the  age  of  the  patri- 
archs, backAvard  until  the  new-born  earth  should  burst 
upon  his  view  at  the  dawn  of  creation ;  and  then  in  his 
returning  flight  he  would  review  the  scenes  of  the  past 
forward  to  the  present ;  thus  recalling  a  universal  pan- 
orama, ever  changing,  yet  ever  the  same.  In  the  light 
of  this  illustration,  as  freed  from  its  crude  human  fan- 
cies, we  can  conceive  of  a  Divine  vision  or  conscious- 
ness, at  once  omnipresent  and   omniscient,  pervading 


76  EVIDENGES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  universe  aud  embracing  the  secrets  of  all  worlds, 
through  all  ages,  literally  in  one  everlasting  present,  in 
one  Eternal  Now.  With  true  godly  fear,  we  may  say : 
"  And  there  is  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  his 
sight ;  but  all  things  are  naked  and  laid  open  before  the 
eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do."  And  devoutly 
may  we  exclaim  :  "  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit  ? 
or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend 
up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there :  I  make  my  bed  in  hell, 
behold  thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  even 
there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and  thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me.  If  I  say.  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me  , 
even  the  night  shall  be  light  about  me :  the  darkness  and 
the  light- are  both  alike  to  thee." 

PTiysical  Insignificance  of  Our  Planet, 

The  other  astronomical  difficulty  to  be  considered  is 
one  which  occurs  to  the  believer  as  well  as  to  the  sceptic. 
It  is  not  the  fancy  that  our  earth  is  too  insignificant 
to  attract  any  divine  notice,  but  that  it  is  too  insignifi- 
cant to  have  attracted  so  much  divine  notice  as  the 
Scriptures  attribute  to  it.  And  it  is  a  difficulty  which 
has  weighed  upon  the  greatest  minds.  The  statesman 
Daniel  Webster  wished  to  have  inscribed  upon  his  tomb 
the  sentiment  that  the  reason  for  the  faith  that  wjis  in 
him  had  "  sometimes  been  shaken  by  philosophical  argu- 
ment drawn  from  the  insignificance  of  man  in  compari- 
son with  the  grandeur  of  the  universe."  Ordinarily,  as 
wlioUy  absorbed  in  sublunary  affairs,  we  may  not  feel 
this  sense  of  insignificance  and  desertion  in  the  universe : 
but  if  we  rise  to  the  contemplation  of  the  astronomical 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ASTRONOMY  77 

heavens  as  the  same  with  the  bibhcal  heavens,  as  includ- 
ing not  merely  unconuted  myriads  of  worlds  but  as  the 
abode  of  the  Father  and  the  holy  angels,  it  is  hard  to 
realize  that  He  should  have  concentrated  the  gaze  of  all 
intelligent  creatures  upon  this  little  nook  of  creation  and 
made  it  the  scene  of  a  special  mission  and  incarnation 
of  his  only-begotten  Son.  In  wonder,  if  not  in  doubt, 
W'C  are  ready  to  say  with  the  psalmist,  "  When  I  con- 
sider the  heavens  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the  moon  and 
the  stars  which  thou  hast  ordained,  what  is  man  that 
thou  art  mindful  of  him?  or  the  son  of  man  that  thou 
visitest  him  ?  " 

Moral  Importance  of  Man^ 

The  reply  which  the  psalmist  gave  is  the  same  which 
must  now  be  given  under  the  full  light  of  modern  as- 
tronomy. It  is  to  the  effect  that  the  moral  importance 
of  man  in  creation  and  in  redemption  justifies  all  the 
divine  condescension  toward  him,  and  makes  him  an  ob- 
ject of  angelic  interest  throughout  the  intelligent  uni- 
verse. The  argument  has  been  unfolded  by  Chalmers, 
in  his  "  Astronomical  Discourses,"  with  masterly  clear- 
ness and  fulness.  On  the  assumption' that  our  earth  is 
the  only  lost  world,  he  likens  man  to  the  solitary  sheep 
astray  from  the  heavenly  fold,  and  the  one  repentant 
sinner  causing  new  joy  among  the  angels  of  heaven. 
Magnify  to  the  utmost  the  populous  immensity  which 
astronomy  has  disclosed  around  the  narrow  stage  of  our 
probation.  Imagine,  as  in  a  vast  amphitheatre  of  w^orlds, 
the  series  of  planets,  suns,  and  stars,  with  corresponding 
orders  of  intelligence,  angels  and  archangels,  thrones, 
dominions,  principalities,  cherubim  and  seraphim,  as- 


78  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

cending  rank  above  rank,  toward  the  inaccessible  glory 
of  god-head.  Then  behold  the  eternal  Son  descending 
from  that  excellent  glory  to  our  little  orb,  becoming 
united  with  our  lowly  human  nature,  and  ascending  as 
our  Redeemer  amid  the  triumphing  host  of  heaven,  and 
so  magnifying  Infinite  Love  as  the  crowning  attribute  of 
Deity  and  transcendent  marvel  of  the  universe,  and  we 
shall  no  longer  ask  incredulously,  "  What  is  man  that 
thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?  or  the  Son  of  Man  that  thou 
visitest  him  ?  "  but  shall  say  with  reassured  faith,  "  Yet 
hast  thou  made  him  but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels 
and  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor." 


IV 

THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY 

In  distinction  from  astronomy,  geology  is  restricted 
to  our  planet,  and  is,  literally  defined,  the  science  of  the 
earth,  including  its  mechanical  form  and  structure,  its 
external  features  of  land  and  sea  and  sky,  the  vegetable, 
animal,  and  mineral  products  upon  its  surface,  the  strata, 
florae,  and  faunae  imbedded  in  its  crust,  the  hidden 
nucleus  which  it  contains,  and  the  physical  forces 
active  in  producing  its  climatic  changes  and  structural 
modifications.  In  this  large  sense  of  the  term  we  shall 
use  it,  without  confining  it  to  the  study  of  ancient  or- 
ganisms knoAvn  as  paleontology,  or  to  the  speculative 
problems  of  the  primitive  earth.  And  we  shall  find  it 
yielding  the  four  kinds  of  religious  evidence  already 
traced  in  astronomy,  if  less  perfectly  than  that  science, 
because  of  its  own  relative  imperfection,  yet  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  and  fulness  for  the  purpose  of  the 
argument. 

Groivth  of  Geological  Evidence. 

Geology  is  a  comparatively  modern  science.  Its 
evidence  of  revealed  truths,  like  its  seeming  conflict  with 
them,  is  of  recent  date.  For  many  centuries  it  was  in 
a  false  bondage  to  theology.  The  early  Greek  specula- 
tions concerning  the  round  form  of  the  earth  and  the 
agency  of  fire  and  water  in  its  formation  were  rejected 

79 


80  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

as  heathen  superstitions  by  the  church  fathers,  who  con- 
ceived of  the  earth  as  an  oblong  plain  Avith  a  surround- 
ing sea  and  crystal  roof,  and  descanted  upon  the  divine 
wisdom  and  goodness  displayed  in  such  a  structure. 
With  the  proof  of  the  earth's  rotundity,  this  crude 
geography  fell  into  ruins ;  but  the  schoolmen,  like  the 
fathers,  went  on  expounding  the  hexsemeron,  or  six 
days'  work  of  creation,  as  a  mere  didactic  process  for 
unfolding  the  divine  attributes  and  enforcing  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath.  Even  long  after  the  Eeforma- 
tion  geology  was  still  identified  with  Genesis,  and  the 
whole  disordered  configuration  of  the  globe  w^as  attrib- 
uted to  the  fall  of  Adam  or  the  punitive  action  of  Noah's 
Deluge.  At  length,  in  the  present  century,  the  dis- 
covery of  fossil  remains  and  the  consequent  proof  of 
long  cosmogonic  eras  have  emancipated  geology  from 
this  false  exegesis,  and  issued  in  an  apparent  rupture 
with  the  Bible  which  is  not  yet  fully  healed  by  any  of 
the  numerous  schemes  of  reconciliation.  Nevertheless, 
through  all  these  crude  speculations  and  futile  alliances, 
the  great  theistic  argument  itself  has  remained  logically 
correct  in  form,  needing  only  to  be  reinforced  and  en- 
riched with  better  knowledge  ;  and  the  estranged  science 
is  already  returning  with  new  and  growing  evidence  in 
favor  of  its  early  faith. 


Testimony  of  Geologists. 

The  first  source  of  this  evidence  is  the  testimony  of 
geologists  themselves.  As  we  have  said,  at  its  origin 
geology  was  almost  a  sacred  science,  more  consciously 
depending  upon  the  Bible  than  any  other  natural  sci- 
ence.    For  a  long  time  it  was  nothing  if  not  scriptural, 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  81 

and  it  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  in  the  rebonnd 
from  a  false  interpretation  of  Scripture,  some  of  its 
votaries  should  be  carried  into  indifference  or  hostility 
to  Scripture  itself.  Such  cases,  when  historically  traced, 
can  be  easily  explained.  Some  of  the  Italian  geologists 
simply  avoided  the  fate  of  Galileo  by  masking  their 
scepticism  in  a  policy  of  dissimulation.  When  Bufibn 
was  forced  to  recant  his  Theory  of  the  Earth,  he  de- 
clared that  he  offered  it  as  a  pure  scientific  hypothesis, 
which  was  not  necessarily  contrary  to  the  writings  of 
Moses.  There  is  nothing  in  the  works  of  Hutton  but 
a  strict  scientific  reserve  to  justify  the  attacks  of  the 
Edinburgh  divines,  who  accused  him  of  atheism.  It 
was  but  natural  that  Humboldt  and  A^ogt  should  have 
concluded  that  the  Mosaic  hexsemeron  was  an  oriental 
legend  or  a  pious  fraud,  when  the  German  biblical  critics 
were  showing  them  the  way  to  such  conclusions.  And 
the  credit  which  Lyell  in  his  historical  sketches  gave  to 
other  sacred  books,  whilst  silent  as  to  the  Scriptures, 
whatever  else  it  ma}^  have  been,  was  not  an  instance  of 
scientific  candor.  Duly  allowing  for  all  exceptions,  it 
will  remain  true  that  geologists,  as  a  class,  have  not  lost 
their  faith  in  the  Bible  or  even  renounced  its  geological 
teaching.  In  proof  of  this  the  roll  of  the  science  might 
be  called  from  its  beginning.  Bobert  Boyle,  the  chief 
founder  of  the  Boyal  Society,  devoted  his  life  to  such 
researches,  and  bequeathed  the  apologetic  lectureship 
which  still  bears  his  name.  The  geologist  Ray  was 
the  first  to  unite  natural  history  with  natural  tlieology. 
Cuvier,  the  father  of  paleontology,  fancied  himself 
bidden,  like  the  prophet,  to  evoke  the  dry  bones  of 
buried  nature  into  life.  The  greatest  of  geographers, 
Bitter,  avowedly  wrote  his   magnificent    work   as   his 


82  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

song  of  praise  to  God.  And  the  chief  masters  of  the 
science  in  our  own  day,  Hugh  Miller,  Dana,  Guyot, 
Dawson,  in  the  face  of  previous  failure  and  ridicule, 
have  still  intrepidly  maintained  a  general  accordance 
of  Geology  with  Genesis. 

Revealed  Facts  and  Geological  Facts. 

The  second  source  of  evidence  appears  in  the  exist- 
ing agreement  of  geological  facts  with  revealed  truths. 
The  two  are  so  accordant  that  it  will  be  found  difficult 
to  state  either  without  reference  to  the  other.  On  the 
one  hand  are  the  geological  facts :  that  the  eai-th  i-s  a 
globe  covered  with  sea  and  land,  revolving  on  its  axis 
and  in  its  orbit,  from  morning  to  evening,  through  sum- 
mer and  winter,  and  ever  teeming  with  living  things, 
plants  and  beasts  and  fishes  and  birds,  yet  sometimes 
having  storms,  earthquakes,  and  volcanoes  to  disturb  its 
general  life  and  order.  On  the  other  hand  are  the  re- 
vealed truths :  that  the  earth  is  Jehovah's  and  the  ful- 
ness thereof ;  he  made  the  sea  and  his  hands  formed  the 
dry  land ;  that  He  stretcheth  out  the  north  over  empty 
space  and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing ;  that  He 
causeth  the  outgoings  of  the  morning  and  the  evening 
to  rejoice,  and  hath  made  summer  and  winter,  and 
openeth  his  hand  to  supply  the  wants  of  every  living 
thing ;  that  He  maketh  the  earth  to  quake  before  Him, 
tumeth  up  fire  under  the  earth,  sitteth  on  the  floods 
with  stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  word ;  yet  hath  he  set 
his  rainbow  in  the  cloud  in  token  of  a  covenant  with  the 
earth,  that  while  the  earth  remaineth,  seed-time  and 
harvest  and  summer  and  winter  shall  not  cease.  Are 
not  these  two  statements  logically  inseparable,  simply 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  83 

opposite  half  truths  of  one  rounded  whole  of  truth ! 
Look  at  the  geological  facts  alone,  and  you  will  see  a 
world  orderly  and  beautiful  indeed,  yet  without  cause 
or  purpose  or  meaning,  without  a  will  or  reason  or  intel- 
ligence, or  any  personality  to  uphold  it,  and  at  times  so 
marred  and  deranged  as  to  seem  but  the  sport  of  chance 
or  fast  bound  in  the  chains  of  fate.  Look  at  the  re- 
vealed truths  alone,  and  you  will,  indeed,  behold  an  all- 
sustaining  Preserver  of  the  world,  ever  asserting  his 
presence  in  nature,  yet  but  vaguely  apprehended  under 
its  phenomena  and  Avith  but  little  intelligible  connection 
with  its  processes,  like  a  prince  who  has  retired  from 
his  realm,  or  returns  into  it  only  to  pla}^  the  tyrant. 
Then  look  at  both  the  facts  and  the  truths  together, 
and  at  once  this  revealed  Preserver  of  the  earth  will 
be  discovered  as  its  Creator,  with  all  his  attributes  in 
full  activity ;  with  His  Almighty  will  strenuously  put 
forth  in  upholding  the  globe  and  controlling  the  play 
of  its  mechanical  forces;  with  His  exhaustless  skill 
displa^-ed,  as  with  lavish  art,  in  an  endless  variety  of 
animal  and  vegetable  products  ;  and  with  His  diffused 
benevolence  shown  in  countless  contrivances  for  the 
happiness  of  myriads  of  sentient  creatures.  And  so 
the  modern  scientist,  with  infinitely  more  meaning,  can 
take  up  the  refrain  of  the  ancient  Psalmist :  "  O  Lord ! 
how  manifold  are  thy  works,  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made 
them  all.     The  earth  is  full  of  thy  riches." 

Evidential  Literature. 

While  the  known  astronomy  illustrates  the  physical 
attributes  of  Deity  as  expressed  in  the  inorganic  phe- 
nomena of  the  universe,  the  known  geology  illustrates 


84:  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIGION 

also  His  intellectual  attributes  as  expressed  in  chemical 
and  organic  phenomena,  His  knowledge,  wisdom,  and 
goodness.  The  literature  of  the  subject  is  immense. 
As  the  geological  sciences  have  advanced,  the  true 
theistic  argument  has  become  cumulative  and  bewil- 
dering in  its  magnificent  richness.  Evidences  have 
been  collected  not  merely  of  benevolent  design,  but  of 
supreme  intelligence  in  the  mathematical  order,  the 
geometrical  symmetry,  the  optical  beauty,  as  well  as  the 
wonderful  utility,  which  pervade  the  whole  terrestrial 
system.  Dr.  John  Kidd,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise 
on  ''  The  Adaptation  of  External  Nature  to  the  Physical 
Condition  of  Man,"  with  reference  to  the  supply  of  his 
wants,  starting  with  a  view  of  his  comparative  help- 
lessness, has  ranged  through  the  atmospheric,  the 
mineral,  the  vegetable,  the  animal  kingdoms,  co-ordinat- 
ing an  immense  series  of  facts  in  proof  of  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  the  Creator.  Dean  Buckland,  in  his 
Bridgewater  Treatise  on  "  Geology  and  Mineralogy, 
with  reference  to  Natural  Theology,"  beginning  far  back 
in  time  with  the  molten  earth,  has  traced  its  forming 
layers  of  rock,  metal,  and  coal  as  designed  for  future 
use,  together  with  the  monster  flora)  and  faunae  adapted 
to  its  changing  climates,  ere  it  was  fitted  to  become  the 
abode  of  man.  The  same  argument  has  been  unfolded 
with  scientific  candor  and  learning,  as  well  as  devout 
enthusiasm  by  President  Hitchcock  in  his  "  Religion  of 
Geology  and  its  Connected  Sciences."  Professor  George 
Fowne,  in  his  Actonian  Prize  Essay,  hds  exemplified 
the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  in  the  chemical  his- 
tory of  the  earth  and  its  atmosphere,  and  in  the  mar- 
vellous adaptation  of  its  inorganic  substances  to  the 
organized  beings  which  tenant  its  surface.     On  the  same 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  85 

foundation  a  like  illustration  has  lately  been  drawn  by 
the  Kev.  George  Warrington,  from  the  lohenomena 
of  radiation.  Professor  J.  P.  Cooke,  in  his  Graham 
Lectures  on  "  Eeligion  and  Chemistry,"  has  gathered 
fresh  testimony  from  the  beneficent  uses  of  oxygen, 
carbonic  acid,  nitrogen,  and  all  the  constituents  of  air, 
earth,  and  water.  Professor  Guyot,  in  his  Lowell  Lect- 
ures on  '*  Earth  and  Man,"  has  sketched  the  wonderful 
preadjustment  of  the  whole  physical  structure  and 
furniture  of  the  finished  globe  to  the  races  and  civil- 
izations which  have  been  cradled  in  its  genial  conti- 
nents, nourished  by  its  cloudy  mountains,  fanned  Avith 
its  balmy  winds,  and  wafted  with  growiug  wealth  and 
power  across  its  might}^  seas. 

The  invisible  beauties  of  nature,  as  well  as  its  more 
obvious  utilities,  have  also  been  unveiled  by  the  hand 
of  a  devout  science.  The  distinguished  mathematician, 
Charles  Babbage,  in  his  "  Ninth  Bridgewater  Treatise," 
sought  to  illustrate  arithmetically,  by  means  of  a  calcu- 
lating machine,  after  the  manner  of  Paley,  that  divine 
forethought  and  design  which  pervade  the  evolution  of 
the  whole  terrestrial  mechanism,  under  both  law  and 
miracle,  and  unfolded  a  secret  Book  of  Kemembrance 
in  those  ethereal  waves  of  light  and  sound  which  per- 
petuate the  impression  of  every  word  and  deed  of  man. 
President  Hill,  of  Harvard,  has  in  like  manner  united 
Geometry  and  Faith,  by  exposing  those  vast,  intricate 
problems  of  form  and  motion,  with  which  an  Infinite 
Intelligence  is  ever  tasking  the  devout  student  of  nature. 
President  McCosh,  with  the  aid  of  Professor  Dickie,  in 
his  "Typical  Forms  and  Special  Ends,"  while  not  un- 
dervaluing the  utilitarian  arguments  of  other  writers, 
has  chiefly  aimed  to  blend  the  evidence  of  order  and 


86  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

beauty  with  that  of  adaptation  and  use,  as  found  in  the 
subtle  harmonies  of  number,  form,  and  color  which  lurk 
in  the  crystal,  the  plant,  the  animal,  gleam  in  the  most 
hidden  atoms  and  particles,  and  thus  transform  the 
whole  earth  with  a  divine  intelligence  and  glory. 

The  whole  argument  has  been  popularized  by  writers, 
lecturers,  and  preachers,  who  have  sought  to  translate 
the  annual  course  of  nature  into  a  sort  of  parable  of 
divine  grace.  It  has  been  framed  into  the  calendar  of 
the  natural  year  by  Dr.  Hitchcock  in  his  "Keligious 
Lectures  upon  the  four  Seasons,"  discoursing  upon  the 
Besurrection  of  Spring,  the  Triumphal  Arch  of  Summer, 
the  Euthanasia  of  Autumn,  and  the  Coronation  of  Win- 
ter. It  has  been  Avoven  into  the  calendar  of  the  civil 
year  by  Dr.  Duncan  in  his  "  Sacred  Philosophy  of  the 
Seasons,"  joining  scientific  with  Scriptural  meditations 
upon  the  phenomena  of  the  ever-changing  climate  and 
scenery.  It  has  also  been  adapted  to  the  Christian 
year  by  an  English  layman,  Dr.  Chapin  Child,  in  a 
scientific  commentary  upon  the  "  Benedicite,"  blending 
the  great  orchestra  of  Nature  with  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church. 

Geological  Hijpotlieses. 

The  third  source  of  evidence  is  in  the  provisional 
agreemenrof  geological  hypotheses  with  revealed  doc- 
trines. We  now  enter  a  region  of  the  science  which 
has  been  overrun  with  the  wildest  and  most  contradic- 
tory speculations  concerning  the  origin,  development, 
and  destiny  of  the  earth.  The  verity  of  Scripture  will 
stand  quite  independent  of  such  speculations,  even 
though  they  be  left  unnoticed  ;  and  the  odium  of  any 
failure  in  reconciling  them  with  Scripture   should  be 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  87 

divided  with  the  geologists  who  have  themselves  been 
conspicuous  among  the  reconcilers  and  have  often  mis- 
led them  by  offering  some  mere  conjecture  as  a  scien- 
tific truth.  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  well  to  show  the 
bearing  of  these  speculations  upon  the  revealed  doctrine 
ever  to  be  conserved  and  maintained,  whichever  of 
them  may  prevail  in  the  end.  It  will  be  found,  in  some 
instances,  that  they  already  give  promise  of  shedding 
new  light  upon  biblical  truths  which  they  may  seem  to 
have  menaced. 

The  Primifive  Earth  a  Finished  World, 

The  first  of  the  unsolved  problems  of  geology  relates 
to  the  origin  of  the  Earth ;  and  two  rival  speculations 
concerning  it  have  been  pursued.  Nearly  all  the  early 
geologists,  such  as  Burnet,  Woodward,  and  Cuvier,  and 
others  mainly  of  the  Neptunist  school  of  Werner,  ac- 
cepted the  dogma  of  instantaneous  creation  as  a  scien- 
tific postulate,  and  conceived  of  the  primitive  earth  as  a 
finished  world  such  as  we  now  find  it.  It  was  held  that 
as  far  back  as  science  can  take  us,  our  planet  was  found 
to  have  been  a  solid  globe  covered  with  strata,  florae, 
and  faunae,  such  as  now  appear  in  its  mineral,  vegetable, 
and  animal  kingdoms.  The  earthquakes  and  volcanoes 
which  occasionally  disturb  its  order  were  regarded  as 
relics  of  second  causes  employed  by  the  Creator  when  he 
divided  the  land  from  the  sea  by  upheaving  the  moun- 
tains and  draining  the  waters  into  a  central  abyss.  The 
layers  of  granite,  slate,  and  clay,  together  with  the  fossil 
organisms  found  with  them,  were  accepted  as  the  sedi- 
ment and  remains  of  the  Noachian  Deluge,  which  as  a 
universal  ocean  had  destroyed  all  organic  life  upon  the 


88  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

earth.  And  tlie  view  was  made  plausible  by  the  ad- 
mitted fact  that  the  superficial  strata,  including  the  fos- 
silliferous  portions,  are  largely  composed  of  aqueous 
formations. 

The  Primitive  Eartli   Chaotic. 

The  later  geologists,  however,  such  as  Buffon,  Hum- 
boldt, Lyell,  and  others  chiefly  of  the  Vulcanist  school 
of  Hutton,  have  gradually  discarded  the  dogma  of  an 
abrupt  creation  as  unscientific,  and  conceived  of  the 
eartli  as  evolved  from  a  primitive  chaos.  It  is  now 
maintained  that  science  can  take  us  back  to  a  time  when 
our  planet  was  one  of  the  nebulous  rings  of  the  solar 
system;  first  condensing  into  an  incandescent  sphere, 
and  then  hardening  around  its  fiery  nucleus  into  a 
granite  shell  as  the  base  of  the  organic  species  which 
have  since  flourished  and  decayed  upon  its  surface.  The 
fossil  remains  and  serried  strata  imbedded  in  its  crust 
could  not  have  been  formed  and  deposited  by  so 
transient  an  event  as  the  Deluge,  but  are  the  effects  of 
physical  and  chemical  processes  still  passing  before  our 
eyes.  Earthquakes  and  volcanoes  are  only  surviving 
expressions  of  a  molten  interior  mass  which  the  earth 
has  inherited  from  the  primitive  nebula.  And  the 
opinion  is  made  more  probable  by  the  undeniable  fact 
that  the  great  solid  masses  of  the  planet  are  composed 
of  iojneous  formations. 


'o' 


The  Doctrine  of  Creation. 

It  would  be  interesting,  but  it  might  be  tedious,  to 
recount  the  many  attempts  to  harmonize  these  con- 
flicting views  with  the  revealed  doctrine  of   creation. 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  89 

The  first  view,  that  the  earth  was  perfect  from  the  be- 
ginning, fell  easily  into  agreement  with  the  traditional 
conception  of  creation  as  an  instantaneous  act  of  the 
Almighty  about  six  thousand  years  ago,  when  the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth  were  created  in  the  beginning,  as  de- 
clared in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis.  In  order  to  meet 
the  next  statement,  in  the  second  verse,  that  the  earth 
was  in  a  chaotic  state,  and  to  explain  the  marks  of  dis- 
order which  it  still  presents,  it  was  held  that  the  earth 
w^as  dragged  down  from  its  pristine  perfection  by  the 
fall  of  the  angels  who  inhabited  it ;  that  then  ensued 
the  six  days'  work  of  creation  in  conflict  with  this  Sa- 
tanic agency ;  and  that  by  the  temptation  and  fall  of 
man  came  fresh  disorder,  to  be  eft'aced  by  the  work  of 
redemption  and  ultimate  triumph  of  Christ  over  Satan. 
In  place  of  these  extravagant  interpretations,  the  second 
view,  that  the  earth  has  been  evolved  from  an  ancient 
chaos,  is  now  generally  accepted  as  more  in  accordance 
with  science  and  with  Scripture.  If  we  conceive  of 
creation  both  reasonably  and  scripturally,  as  a  process 
rather  than  as  an  act,  and  include  evolution  in  its  process, 
then  the  first  verse  of  Gepesis  will  stand  by  itself  as  a 
declaration  of  the  general  doctrine  or  fact  of  creation  ; 
the  second  verse  will  indicate  the  void  and  formless 
nebula  in  which  the  earth  originated ;  and  the  following 
verses  will  depict  the  creative  method  by  which  it  was 
evolved  into  its  present  finished  form.  But  whichever 
of  the  two  vieAvs  Ave  accept,  though  Ave  accept  them 
both  and  sift  them  together,  aa'c  shall  have  as  a  residual 
truth  the  plainly  revealed  statement  that  the  primitive 
earth  Avas  without  form  and  void  ere  the  creative  spirit 
of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  abyss. 


90  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

The  Catastropliists, 

The  second  problem  is  the  development  of  the  earth 
through  the  geological  periods ;  and  before  this  prob- 
lem are  encamped  the  Catastrophists  and  the  Uniformi- 
tarians.  According  to  the  Catastropliists  physical  proc- 
esses in  the  primitive  earth  were  inconceivably  swift 
and  violent.  Geologists  of  this  school  will  appeal  from 
the  present  to  the  former  condition  of  the  planet  before 
it  became  ready  for  organic  life,  when  it  was  a  rocky 
shell  enclosing  a  fiery  mass  and  enveloped  in  a  universal 
ocean  by  which  were  produced  its  erupted  mountains 
and  abysmal  seas  and  of  which  the  volcano  and  the 
earthquake  are  noAV  but  faint  echoes.  After  it  became 
ready  for  organic  life,  they  will  tell  us,  the  same 
aqueous  and  igneous  agencies  conspired  to  render  it 
like  a  huge  hot-house  for  producing  enormous  ferns  and 
prodigious  monsters  of  which  Ave  can  find  but  a  few 
traces  and  remains  buried  in  its  crust.  These  fossillif- 
erous  strata,  moreover,  by  their  position  one  above  an- 
other, are  supposed  to  indicate  successive  destructions 
and  renewals  of  organic  life  by  means  of  great  planetary 
convulsions  ere  the  appearance  of  man.  And  it  must  be 
granted  that  the  distorted  surface  of  the  globe  and  its 
broken  strata,  viewed  Avith  the  occasional  freshet  and 
the  smouldering  volcano,  are  very  suggestive  of  spent 
forces  which  have  once  acted  with  paroxysmal  violence. 

The  Uniformitarians. 

According  to  the  Uniformitarians,  however,  physical 
agencies  in  the  primitive  earth  were  inconceivably  slow 
and  tranquil.  Geologists  of  this  school,  if  we  give  them 
unlimited  credit  in  the  bank  of  time,  will  trace  the  pres- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  01 

ent  globe  far  back  to  its  gaseous  origin,  under  existing 
laws  at  their  present  rate  of  action,  ^vitliout  a  break  or 
catastrophe.  The  fossil  fior«  and  fauncie  preceding  the 
historic  period,  they  tell  us,  indicate  successive  dynasties 
of  organic  life,  the  kainozoic,  the  mesozoic,  the  paleo- 
zoic, or  the  modern,  medieval,  and  ancient,  evolving  one 
out  of  another,  with  the  changing  climate  of  the  earth, 
each  lasting  untold  thousands  of  years.  Earthquakes 
and  volcanoes  have  a  conservative  effect  upon  the  gen- 
eral balance  of  sea  and  land,  and  are  but  incidental  to 
the  slow  process  by  w^hich  new  islands  and  continents 
are  formed  as  the  foundation  of  new  organic  systems. 
Even  the  most  ancient  strata,  the  crystalline  rocks  pre- 
ceding all  organic  life,  are  but  relics  of  the  solidifying 
crust  of  the  molten  globe  as  it  cooled  and  hardened 
through  long  yeons  of  geological  and  astronomical  time. 
Whatever  may  be  thought  of  those  remote  periods,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  during  the  historic  period,  at 
least,  the  aspect  of  nature  has  suggested  a  steady  play 
of  its  forces  with  uniform  tranquillity. 


The  Six  Creative  Days, 

The  most  heroic  efforts  have  been  made  to  bring 
these  various  speculations  into  agreement  wdth  the  re- 
vealed doctrine  of  the  six  creative  days.  Without  re- 
viewing all  of  them  we  shall  find,  by  a  glance  at  them, 
that  the  general  outcome  is  already  favorable  and  hope- 
ful. At  first  the  opinion  of  the  Catastrophists,  as  aj)- 
plied  by  Penn,  Fairholm,  Kirb}^,  lent  itself  naturally  to 
the  dogmatic  conception  of  the  creative  days  as  a  series  of 
stupendous  miracles.  It  had  become  the  orthodox  faith, 
as  it  is  still  the  popular  notion,  that  about  six  thousand 


92  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

years  ago  land  and  sea  and  sky,  plants,  animals,  and 
men,  started  forth  into  being,  one  after  another,  in  six 
days  of  twenty-four  hours,  by  successive  fiats  of  Jeho- 
vah. And  when  the  evidence  of  fossil  remains  was 
brought  to  light,  it  could  only  be  denied  or  treated  as 
illusory.  It  was  even  imagined  that  since  Adam  must 
have  been  created  with  an  umbilicus,  and  since  the 
trees  must  have  been  created  with  concentric  rings,  so 
the  earth  itself  must  have  been  created  in  a  stratified 
form,  with  extinct  florae  and  faunae,  suggesting  a  growth 
through  which  it  had  never  passed.  This  was  catas- 
trophism  run  wild,  and  the  miraculous  made  monstrous. 
To  meet  such  difficulties,  learned  divines,  like  Chal- 
mers, Pye  Smith,  Andrew  Wagner,  suggested  a  long 
interval  of  time  between  the  first  and  the  second  verses 
of  Genesis,  during  which  all  the  geological  periods 
might  have  been  unfolded,  but  which  was  omitted  as 
not  essential  in  the  sacred  narrative.  After  which  fol- 
lows, in  the  next  verses,  the  account  of  a  new  creation, 
on  the  chaotic  ruins  of  the  old,  having  man  for  its  cen- 
tre and  performed  literally  in  six  days.  It  was  even 
fancied  that  this  new  creation  was  local  and  supernat- 
ural, in  Central  Asia,  to  furnish  a  paradise  for  Adam, 
while  the  rest  of  the  globe  was  still  proceeding,  as  of 
old,  under  natural  laws.  But  the  difficulties  of  this 
mode  of  interpretation,  though  reduced,  were  not  re- 
moved, and  it  has  declined  with  the  decline  of  Catastro- 
phism  among  geologists. 

The  Creative  Days  as  Cosmogonic  Eras. 
The  opinion  of  the  Uniformitarians,  as  held  by  Guyot, 
Dana,  Dawson,  Hugh  Miller,  has  led  to  more  successful 
attempts  to  identify  the  geological  periods  with  the  ere- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  OEOLOOY  93 

ative  days  as  divine  working  days  or  long  cosmogonic 
eras  of  the  Creator.  If  to  the  conception  of  creation  as 
a  process,  we  add  that  of  an  orderly  evohition  as  its 
method,  on  the  assumption  that  the  author  of  Scripture 
is  also  the  author  of  nature,  it  will  be  only  a  question  of 
detail  to  harmonize  the  story  of  the  one  with  the  story 
of  the  other.  Neither  the  scriptural  nor  the  common  use 
of  the  word  "  day  "  limits  it  to  a  period  of  twenty-four 
hours ;  nor  has  the  enlarged  sense  of  it  in  Genesis  been 
forced  upon  modern  reconcilers  by  the  claims  of  science, 
since  it  was  held  on  doctrinal  grounds  by  St.  Augustine 
and  Bossuet,  long  before  the  dawn  of  geology,  as  well 
as  by  learned  Hebraists,  like  Pusey  and  Hengstenberg, 
on  grammatical  grounds.  According  to  the  best  of  the 
uniformitarian  schemes  of  conciliation  as  set  forth  by 
the  late  Arnold  Guyot,  on  the  basis  of  modern  astro- 
nomical and  geological  speculation,  the  biblical  cosmog- 
ony comprised  during  the  first  three  days  the  general 
evolution  of  the  heavens  with  their  nebuljie,  suns,  and 
planets,  and  during  the  second  three  daj^s  the  special 
evolution  of  the  earth  with  its  climates,  florae,  and 
faunne  :  tlie  former,  or  astronomical,  including  the  azoic 
ages,  or  inorganic  era,  of  matter ;  and  the  latter,  or  geo- 
logical, the  paleozoic,  mesozoic,  and  kainozoic  ages,  or 
organic  era  of  life ;  the  whole  concluding  in  the  forma- 
tion of  man  as  the  climax  of  the  evolution  and  the  image 
of  the  Creator.  The  seemingly  inconsistent  appearance 
of  light  on  the  first  day  and  of  vegetation  on  the  third 
day,  previous  to  any  mention  of  the  sun,  is  explained 
by  the  cosmic  conditions  which  existed  Avhen  the  gas- 
eous nebula  became  luminous,  and  when  the  still  lumi- 
nous earth  could  bear  forms  of  plant  life,  ere  the  sun  had 
begun  to  illumine  it  or  the  seasons  had  prepared  it  for 


94  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED   RELIGION 

the  organic  epochs  of  the  three  following  days.  The 
seventh  day  of  rest,  which  came  after  the  six  days  of 
work,  is  that  historic  period  of  tranquillity  and  order 
throughout  nature  which  closed  the  period  of  energetic 
evolution,  when  God  rested  from  all  his  work  and  saw 
tliat  everything  he  had  made  was  very  good.  And  since 
then,  from  generation  to  generation,  this  great  Sabbath 
of  God  has  had  its  perpetual  memorial,  image,  and  ac- 
companiment in  the  lesser  sabbath  made  for  man. 

The  Creative  Days  as  Logical  Stages. 

The  clearness,  richness,  and  beautj^  of  this  scheme 
have  been  widely  recognized.  It  was  used  by  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  his  controversy  with  Professor  Huxley, 
concerning  the  Proem  in  Genesis.  But  it  does  not 
satisfy  all  minds.  The  difficulty  of  tracing  in  detail 
an  exact  parallelism  between  Genesis  and  geology  has 
caused  a  reaction  against  such  minute  interpretation 
and  led  to  an  effort  to  banish  the  time-element  alto- 
gether from  the  narrative.  Profound  thinkers,  like 
Michaelis  and  Reusch,  have  maintained  that  the  crea- 
tive days  correspond  with  the  geological  periods,  not  as 
chronological  epochs,  but  as  logical  stages  in  the  creative 
process,  founded  in  fact  and  in  reason,  but  not  necessa- 
rily to  be  conceived  of  as  fixed  intervals  of  definite  dura- 
tion. The  order  is  the  same  in  both  Scri^^ture  and  nat- 
ure :  First,  a  formless  waste  or  the  nebulous  chaos ; 
second,  a  division  of  the  earth  from  the  firmament,  or 
the  separation  of  the  nebulous  planet  from  the  rest  of 
the  solar  nebula ;  third,  the  gathering  of  the  seas  and 
appearing  of  the  dry  land  to  bring  forth  grass  and  herb 
and   plant,  or  the  evolution  of   the  terraqueous  globe 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  95 

with  its  sun-like  photosphere  and  commencing  verdure  ; 
fourth,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  to  give  light  upon  the 
earth  and  to  be  for  signs  and  for  seasons,  for  days  and 
years,  or  the  establishment  of  the  mature  planet  in  the 
solar  system  with  its  zones  and  climates,  its  day  and 
night  and  summer  and  winter;  fifth,  the  swarming  of 
the  water  and  air  with  great  fishes  and  winged  fowl  or 
the  evolution  of  the  lower  animals  of  the  organic  scale  ; 
sixth,  the  earth  bringing  forth  beasts  each  after  its  kind, 
and  the  making  of  man  in  the  image  of  God  with  do- 
minion over  the  fish  of  the  sea  and  the  fowl  of  the  air 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  or  the  evolution  of  the  higher 
animals  of  the  organic  scale  and  the  production  of  man 
as  the  most  perfect  and  dominant  animal  of  the  globe  ; 
seventh,  the  rest  of  God  from  his  work,  or  the  repose  of 
nature,  since  man  appeared  upon  the  earth.  And  this 
order  will  hold  though  it  be  purely  ideal  in  the  mind, 
though  it  represent  merely  the  phases  of  all  cosmic 
growth  without  special  reference  to  our  earth ;  though 
there  be  no  effort  to  adjust  it  to  the  still  imperfect  peri- 
odology  of  geological  time. 

But  whichever  of  the  schemes  be  adopted,  whether 
the  history  be  regarded  as  real  or  as  ideal,  the  essential 
point  remains,  that  the  geological  order  of  evolution 
agrees  with  the  revealed  order  of  creation,  and  justifies 
the  divine  and  human  Sabbath  as  the  reason  given  for 
the  Fourth  Commandment :  "  For  in  six  days  the  Lord 
made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  is  therein, 
and  rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  \ 
the  Sabbath  day  and  hallowed  it." 


96  EVIDENCEB  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 


Cfitical  Questions. 

Let  it  be  here  observed,  in  passing,  tliat  this  scientific 
interpretation  of  the  Hex^emeron  is  in  no  way  affected 
by  any  critical  questions  which  have  been  raised  as  to 
the  authorship  of  Genesis  or  the  literary  form  in  which 
it  is  cast.  Take  the  most  advanced  ground  as  to  these 
questions.  Assume  that  the  biblical  cosmogony  was  de- 
rived from  Hebrew  documents,  Egyptian  hieroglyphs, 
Assyrian  tablets,  or  other  primeval  traditions,  by  some 
unknoAvn  editor  inspired  to  mould  them  in  their  pres- 
ent form.  Assume,  still  further,  that  the  narrative  is 
dramatic  in  structure  and  anthropomorphic  in  language ; 
a  series  of  visions  or  scenes  dawning  and  fading  like 
successive  days,  with  divine  fiats  ushering  and  explain- 
ing them  one  after  another,  as  they  pass  before  the  fancy 
of  the  rai^t  Judean  seer.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains, 
that  here  in  this  oldest  of  books  is  an  order  of  creation 
which  modern  geology  verifies,  and  based  upon  it  is  a 
calendar  of  historic  time  which  has  supplanted  succes- 
sively the  calendars  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Greece,  and 
Eome ;  which  still  rules  the  highest  civilization  of  our 
day,  which  governs  every  week  of  your  life  and  mine, 
and  which  is  imperiously  proclaimed  from  the  altars  of 
the  Church,  whenever  we  hear  the  words  "  Remember 
the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 

Dissolution  of  the  Earth 

The  third  geological  problem  is  the  destiny  of  the 
earth  ;  and  two  opinions  have  arisen  concerning  it.  The 
early  geologists,  such  as  Hooke  and  Ray,  predicted  the 
future  dissolution  of  the  globe.    It  had  become  a  sacred 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  97 

tradition  that  the  earth  will  yet  be  destroyed  by  fire,  as 
it  had  once  been  destroyed  by  water,  and  this  tradition 
was  made  a  basis  of  scientific  prevision.  Its  portents 
were  found  in  the  combustible  material  of  the  earth's 
surface,  and  in  volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  which  seemed 
to  betoken  some  vast  fiery  magazine  in  the  under-world, 
which  might  at  any  time  burst  forth  in  the  flames  of  a 
general  conflagration.  It  was  ascertained  by  thermomet- 
rical  measurement  that  the  heat  of  the  globe  increases 
downward  toward  the  centre,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
a  molten  mass  of  minerals  and  lava  within  a  crust  rela- 
tively no  bigger  than  an  egg-shell.  Together  with  these 
internal  sources  of  combustion  were  combined  atmos- 
pherical and  astronomical  agencies,  such  as  the  lightning 
and  the  thunderbolt,  the  meteoric  shower,  the  comet,  in- 
creasing solar  heat,  and  even  stellar  radiation  throughout 
the  celestial  regions  in  which  the  sun  is  journeying  with 
the  earth  among  the  stars.  It  seemed  easy  enough  to 
find  instruments  as  well  as  presages  of  the  great  disaster. 

StaUlity  of  the  Earth. 

The  later  geologists,  however,  such  as  Herschel, 
Thompson,  and  Lyell  have  been  more  inclined  to  be- 
lieve in  the  stability  of  the  globe.  Repeated  failures  to 
fix  the  date  of  the  predicted  conflagi-ation  have  combined 
with  more  thorough  geological  researches  to  induce  a 
scientific  scepticism  as  to  the  interior  fires  of  the  earth. 
It  has  been  maintained  that  the  earthquake  and  the 
volcano  are  not  destructive,  but  conservative  agencies, 
mere  safety-valves  and  vent-holes  to  preserve  the  equilib- 
rium of  land  and  sea  over  any  molten  mass  imderneath 
the  ground.  The  egg-like  globe  with  its  fiery  yolk  could 
7 


98  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RE  LI  Q  J  ON 

not  live  even  in  fancy  after  it  was  shown  by  mechanical 
and  thermal  calculations  that  the  earth  has  cooled  from 
its  centre  and  not  from  its  surface  ;  that  its  density  for- 
bids the  notion  of  a  central  fluidity ;  and  that  there  is  an 
equilibrium  in  its  temperature  as  well  as  in  its  mass,  to 
insure  its  permanence.  The  atmospheric  storm  is  treated 
as  no  more  than  "  a  sneeze  in  man's  small  universe," 
and  it  has  even  been  surmised  that  if  our  planet  is  jour- 
neying with  the  sun  among  the  stars  from  cold  to  hot 
regions  of  space  with  aqueous  and  igneous  epochs  of  de- 
velopment, 3^et  these  may  be  periodic  rather  than  catas- 
trophic, and  as  superficial  in  their  effects  as  the  annual 
seasons,  only  a  longer  sidereal  winter,  to  be  followed  by 
a  later,  more  glorious  summer.  In  the  light  of  science 
the  earth  can  be  made  to  look  essentially  solid  and  en- 
during. 

Doctrine  of  the  Old  and  Neio  Earth, 

The  two  geological  opinions  now  before  us,  by  their 
very  statement,  appear  accordant  with  the  revealed  doc- 
trine of  the  destruction  and  renewal  of  the  earth.  What 
is  true  in  each  of  them  agrees  with  all  that  is  true  in  ex- 
isting interpretation.  The  opinion  of  the  earth's  future 
dissolution  is  vividly  depicted  by  St.  Peter,  though  not 
with  a  scientific  purpose,  where  he  warns  the  scofiers  of 
the  last  days,  that  the  heavens  which  now  are,  and  the 
earth,  by  the  word  of  God  are  stored  with  fire,  against 
the  day  of  judgment,  when  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works  that  are  there- 
in shall  be  burned  up.  The  opinion  of  the  earth's  sta- 
bility is  also  countenanced  by  the  Scriptures  which  de- 
clare that  Jehovah  has  a  covenant  with  the  earth  never 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  OEOLOGT  99 

again  to  curse  the  ground  for  man's  sake,  and  that  the 
foundations  of  the  earth  are  so  surely  laid  that  it  cannot 
be  moved.  At  the  same  time,  both  opinions  when  sifted 
together  yield  the  Scriptural  conception  of  a  new  earth 
to  be  formed  out  of  the  old,  of  a  pelingenesia,  or  second 
genesis  born  of  the  first,  of  a  paradise  regained  blossom- 
ing out  of  a  paradise  lost,  and  of  a  general  resurrection 
of  material  nature  in  connection  with  redeemed  human- 
ity:  "For  the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity  not  of 
its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected  it  in 
hope  that  the  creation  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory 
of  the  children  of  God." 

The  whole  problem  of  the  speculative  geology,  we  can 
now  see,  is  but  part  of  the  larger  problem  of  the  specu- 
lative astronomy.  In  the  biblical  conception  the  old 
and  new  earth  is  included  in  the  old  and  new  heavens, 
as  in  the  scientific  conception  our  planet  in  its  develop- 
ment shares  the  vicissitudes  of  the  celestial  system  to 
which  it  belongs.  And  if  we  adopt  the  astronomical 
speculation  that  our  earth  is  carried  by  the  sun  through 
hot  and  cold  regions  of  space,  during  long  epochs  of  ice 
and  fire,  then  the  time  must  come  when  our  planet  shall 
share  in  the  destruction  and  renewal  of  the  heavens; 
when  the  renewed  earth  shall  become  a  restored  para- 
dise for  renewed  man,  and  all  the  glorious  symbolism 
of  the  Apocalypse  shall  be  fulfilled :  physical  pain  and 
sickness  and  tears  shall  pass  away,  and  the  tree  of  life 
shall  shed  its  fruit  every  month  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations. 


100         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 


Geological  3Iarvels  and  3Iiracles. 

The  fourth  source  of  evidence  is  in  the  comparison 
of  the  miracles  of  revealed  religion  with  the  marvels  of 
modern  geology.  The  Bible  records  numerous  miracles 
wrought  during  the  historic  period  within  the  province 
of  this  science.  The  exegetical  questions  preliminary 
to  a  full  consideration  of  them  are  interesting  and  im- 
portant, but  not  essential  to  the  present  argument.  If 
the  burning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone was  a  meteoric  shower  or  a  volcanic  overthrow,  it 
has  its  parallel  in  the  destruction  of  the  dissolute  cities 
of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  and  is  far  surpassed  in 
wonderfulness  by  the  fiery  cloud  and  core  of  the  globe 
during  its  earliest  geological  period.  If  the  Deluge  of 
Noah  was  a  local  freshet  destroying  the  then  known  earth 
with  the  Adamic  race,  rather  than  a  universal  ocean, 
yet  geology  asks  us  to  believe  that  such  an  ocean  once 
invested  the  whole  planet,  followed  by  glacial  epochs 
more  marvellous  than  anything  narrated  in  Scripture. 
If  the  miracles  of  the  Exodus,  such  as  the  crossing  of 
the  Red  Sea,  the  quail  and  manna  and  fountain  in  the 
desert,  and  the  conquest  of  Canaan  were  simply  excep- 
tional but  natural  phenomena,  and  if  the  mighty  works 
of  our  Lord  within  the  realm  of  nature,  such  as  the 
Draught  of  Fishes,  the  Feeding  of  the  Ten  Thousand, 
the  Stilling  of  the  Tempest,  were  onl}^  natural  processes 
accelerated  or  arrested  by  divine  Avisdom  and  skill,  yet 
the  whole  earth  around  us  has  been  transformed  with 
greater  marvels  of  human  science  and  art,  such  as 
tunnels,  bridges,  and  canals,  iron  steamers  ploughing 
through  stormy  oceans,  prodigious  harvests  and  luxuries, 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  101 

continents  reclaimed  and  barbarous  regions  civicized, 
all  which  would  have  seemed  more  incredible  to  an  an- 
cient Hebrew  peasant  than  the  miracles  of  his  day  can 
now  seem  to  a  sceptical  critic.  And  the  belief  in  such 
miracles,  instead  of  being  an  act  of  stupid  wonder,  be- 
comes intelligent  and  reasonable,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  all  of  them  are  radiant  with  divine  meaning ;  that 
the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  was  a  deserved 
judgment ;  that  the  Deluge  was  but  the  opening  act  in 
the  great  scheme  of  human  redemption  ;  that  the  follow- 
ing signs  and  wonders  under  both  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament  served  to  distinguish  the  true  religion  from 
false  religions,  and  cause  their  prodigies  to  disappear 
as  mere  lying  wonders  or  feats  of  magic ;  and  that  they 
still  live  as  revelations  of  divine  truth  and  love  in  the 
faith  and  culture  of  our  own  times.  To  an  unprejudiced 
mind,  coming  to  the  question  with  a  fresh  knowledge  of 
both  Scripture  and  natiu'e,  the  marvels  of  geological 
science  would  seem  less  conceivable,  less  probable,  as 
well  as  less  sublime,  than  any  correspondent  miracles 
of  revealed  religion. 

Value  of  the  Geological  Evidence, 

If  the  geological  evidence  seem  less  exact  and  perfect 
than  we  found  the  astronomical  evidence,  it  is  because, 
as  we  anticipated,  geology  is  a  less  exact  and  complete 
science  than  astronomy.  While  astronomy  deals  with 
simple  mechanical  problems,  geology  is  entangled  in 
complex,  physical,  chemical,  and  organical  problems 
which  seem  as  yet  almost  to  defy  analysis.  But  this 
necessary  imperfection  or  immaturity  of  its  speculative 
section  being  duly  considered,  its  evidence  is  already 


102         EVIDENCES  OB'  REVEALED  RELIGION 

great  and  promising.  Indeed,  it  may  be  asserted,  in  spite 
of  current  impressions  to  the  contrary,  that  the  harmony 
of  modern  geology  with  the  Bible  is  already  greater  and 
more  promising  than  the  harmony  of  modern  theology 
with  the  Bible.  In  the  first  place,  the  friendly  differ- 
ences among  geologists,  between  such  extremes  as 
Catastrophism  and  Uniformitarianism,  are  much  more 
reconcilable  with  one  another  and  with  Scripture  than 
the  polemic  disputes  of  divines  between  such  extremes 
as  Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  Calvinism  and  Uni- 
tarianism  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  the  established 
truths  of  geology,  already  harmonious  with  Scripture, 
rest  upon  strictly  scientific  evidence  which  cannot  be 
unsettled;  while  the  established  truths  of  theology, 
such  as  theism  and  revelation,  rest  largely  upon  spec- 
ulative evidence  which  is  now  being  undermined  by 
agnosticism  and  criticism.  In  other  words,  geology, 
scientifically  considered,  is  a  much  more  advanced 
and  exact  science  than  theology  scientifically  consid- 
ered, and  therefore  much  more  accordant  with  re- 
vealed religion. 

Geological  Difficulties  of  Fcdtli. 

Geology  discloses  the  infinitude  of  God  in  time,  as 
astronomy  discloses  it  in  space,  and  occasions  a  like 
difficulty  of  faith  in  conceiving  of  the  eternity  of  cosmic 
time  as  compared  with  the  brevity  of  historic  time  on 
our  earth.  If  we  admit  a  chronological  element  into  the 
creative  days  of  Genesis,  as  unfolded  by  the  Uniformi- 
tarian  geologist,  we  shall  soon  be  lost  in  the  maze  of 
long  aeons  of  astronomic  and  geologic  time,  when  the 
earth  was  passing  through  successive  stages  of  matter 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  103 

aud  life,  which  no  human  eye  could  behold,  and  which 
make 

"Our  noisy  years  seem  moments  in  the  being 
Of  the  eternal  Silence. ' ' 

The  difficulty  is  not  merely  exegetical.  The  word  "  day  " 
is  used  in  the  narrative,  as  elsewhere  in  Scripture  and 
in  common  speech,  in  various  senses,  as  the  day  of  cos- 
mic light,  the  day  of  solar  light,  the  historic  day  or  age 
of  indefinite  duration,  or  as  a  mere  scenic  day  in  the 
Mosaic  vision  of  creation.  Nowhere,  necessarily  as  the 
day  of  twenty-four  hours.  The  difficulty  lies  deeper 
than  any  verbal  usage.  It  inheres  in  our  earthy  stand- 
ards of  measuring  time,  and  we  can  get  relief  only  by 
emancipating  ourselves  from  those  standards.  This  we 
may  do  by  a  little  effort  of  the  imagination.  It  is  a  well- 
known  illusion  that  the  time  seems  short  or  long  accord- 
ing to  our  circumstances.  In  an  expectant  mood  we 
say  the  minutes  are  like  hours ;  in  a  mood  of  enjo^^ment, 
the  hours  are  like  minutes.  We  dream  of  long  past 
years  in  a  night  of  slumber ;  but  on  a  bed  of  pain,  we 
think  the  morning  will  never  come.  In  other  words  our 
mental  measure  of  time,  within  limits,  is  ever  contract- 
ing or  expanding,  and  in  fancy  may  leap  beyond  those 
limits.  Let  us  make  the  effort.  With  the  contracting 
measure,  descend  through  the  ranks  of  inferior  creatures, 
and  we  shall  come  to  an  ephemeral  insect,  with  whom 
one  day  is  as  our  threescore  years  and  ten.  Descend 
still  lower  with  the  microscope,  and  we  shall  reach  an 
animalcule,  born,  living,  and  dead  in  a  minute,  with 
whom  one  day  would  be  as  a  thousand  years.  With  the 
expanding  measure,  ascend  through  the  ranks  of  superior 
creatures,  and  we  shall  arrive  among  angelic  beings  older 


104:         EVIDENCES  OP  REVEALED  RELIGION 

than  the  patriarchs,  with  whom  a  thousand  years  are 
as  our  threescore  and  ten.  Ascend  still  higher,  and  we 
may  approach  those  eldest  children  of  creation  in  the 
planets  and  stars,  with  whom  a  thousand  years  would  be 
as  one  day.  Then,  by  the  aid  of  such  fancies  conceive 
of  a  Being  as  independent  of  the  limitations  of  time  as 
of  space,  whose  life  is  measured  neither  by  the  millen- 
nium nor  by  the  minute,  who  can  alike  contract  his 
powers  among  atoms  and  seconds  or  expand  them 
through  worlds  and  ages,  and  it  will  seem  literally  true 
that  with  Jehovah  one  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and 
a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  And  in  all  lowliness  may 
we  say,  "We  spend  our  years  as  a  tale  that  is  told. 
For  a  thousand  years  are  in  thy  sight  but  as  yesterday 
when  it  is  past." 

There  is  a  kindred  difficuly  of  faith  occasioned  by  the 
biblical  predictions  of  geological  events,  such  as  the 
destruction  of  the  earth  by  fire,  the  descent  of  the  Son 
of  Man  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. In  the  light  of  Uniformitarian  speculation  such 
descriptions  will  be  regarded  but  as  the  dramatic  scenery 
of  prophecy,  rather  than  as  literal  events  which  are 
probable  and  imminent.  We  look  around  us  upon  the 
present  tranquil  aspect  of  nature,  as  she  has  been  pro- 
ceeding under  fixed  laws  during  the  whole  historic  period, 
and  behold  no  sign  of  any  great  disaster.  With  this 
impression  we  look  backward  to  the  six  days  of  creation 
and  find  them  no  longer  a  single  week  crowded  with 
wonders,  but  extending  through  long  geological  periods 
and  processes.  With  these  double  impressions  of  the 
uniformity  of  Nature,  we  gaze  forward  to  the  great  events 
of  the  world's  future  as  sketched  in  a  prophetic  picture 
without  perspective,  and  the  day  of  judgment  will  seem 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  GEOLOGY  105 

but  another  historic  period,  and  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man  a  moral  crisis  rather  than  a  visible  pageant. 
And  when  to  all  this  is  added  the  scientific  scepticism 
of  our  times  in  regard  to  such  catastrophies,  it  will  seem 
as  if  St.  Peter  had  but  anticipated  the  precise  exigency 
of  our  faith  :  "  Knowing  this,  that  there  shall  come  in 
the  last  days  scoffers,  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming  ?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things 
continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the 
creation." 

The  reply  then  given  to  such  scepticism  is  the  reply 
to  be  given  now.  We  might  almost  say  that  the  Apos- 
tle reasons  like  a  geologist.  We  may  at  least  say  that 
he  reasons  in  a  manner  not  inconsistent  with  the  facts 
and  best  theories  of  geology.  He  first  takes  Catastro- 
phist  ground  against  the  scoffers  by  appealing  to  a 
past  aqueous  condition  of  the  globe  and  to  its  present 
igneous  condition :  "All  things  have  not  continued  as 
they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.  For  this 
they  willingly  are  ignorant  of,  that  by  the  Word  of  God 
the  heavens  were  of  old  and  the  earth  standing  out  of 
the  water  and  in  the  water,  whereby  the  world  that  then 
was,  being  overflowed  with  water,  perished.  But  the 
heavens  and  earth,  which  are  now%  by  the  same  Word 
are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of 
judgement  and  perdition  of  ungodly  meu."  The  apostle 
next  takes  Uniform itarian  ground  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  believers,  by  reminding  tliem  that  the  present 
historic  period  of  redemption,  in  the  scale  of  the  Di- 
vine being,  is  but  like  one  of  the  days  of  creation  and 
now  serves  as  a  day  of  salvation,  a  season  of  amnesty 
or  era  of  grace  :  "  But,  beloved,  be  not  ignorant  of  this 
one  thing  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 


106         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

years  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  For  the  Lord 
is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,  as  some  men  count 
slackness,  but  long  suffering  to  us  ward,  not  willing  that 
any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repent- 
ance. "  And,  then,  the  apostle  warns  both  saints  and 
sinners  that  the  end  of  the  historic  day  of  salvation  is 
ever  imminent,  and  will  be  attended  by  a  great  geologi- 
cal catastrophe  :  "  The  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come  as  a 
thief  in  the  night;  in  which  the  heavens  shall  pass 
away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works  that  are 
therein  shall  be  burned  up."  Twenty  centuries  have 
not  lessened  the  probability  of  that  event.  Nothing 
is  at  once  so  certain  and  so  uncertain.  But  whether  it 
come  in  this  year  or  in  the  next  year,  in  this  century 
or  in  the  next  century,  in  the  millennium  or  in  the 
next  millennium,  is  practically  immaterial :  its  spiritual 
lessons  are  the-  same  to  us  as  to  our  predecessors  or 
may  yet  be  to  our  successors.  It  is  ever  true  for  us 
and  for  all  men,  that  the  things  which  are  seen  are  tem- 
poral ;  that  we  are  living  in  a  world  which  is  transient 
and  probationary :  in  a  world  which  has  enough  of 
beauty  to  charm  the  wicked  in  their  infatuation,  but 
not  enough  to  reward  the  righteous  for  their  fidelity ; 
in  a  Avorld  which  has  enough  of  suffering  to  chasten  the 
saint  yet  not  enough  to  punish  the  sinner ;  in  a  world 
which  is  all  scarred  through  the  ages  with  signs  of  dis- 
aster and  portents  of  judgment ;  and  in  a  world  which 
even  now  bears  within  its  bosom  the  fiery  seeds  of  its 
decay  and  ruin.  "  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things 
shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to 
be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness." 


THE   EVIDENCE   FROM   ANTHROPOLOGY 

The  complex  study  of  anthropology  has  its  roots  in 
natural  history  and  its  branches  in  all  the  human  sci- 
ences. In  distinction  from  geology,  the  science  of  the 
earth,  Anthropology,  as  literally  defined,  is  the  science 
of  man.  It  is  further  definable  as  the  last  and  highest 
of  the  biological  sciences,  being  restricted  to  the  human 
organism  in  distinction  from  all  other  animal  organisms, 
which  in  their  turn  are  distinguishable  from  still  lower 
organisms.  As  thus  viewed  at  the  head  of  the  organic 
scale  of  our  planet,  it  includes  the  study  of  the  human 
body,  of  its  structure  and  of  its  functions,  known  as 
anatomy  and  physiology ;  and  it  comprises  the  whole 
human  species,  with  all  its  physical  phenomena  and 
varied  development  in  different  climates  and  periods  of 
culture.  From  this  last  most  comprehensive  point  of 
view,  it  may  be  divided  into  three  sections  or  subordi- 
nate sciences  :  Ethnology,  the  science  of  races  ;  philol- 
ogy, the  science  of  languages ;  and  archaeology,  the 
science  of  ancient  arts.  It  is  from  each  of  these  three 
anthropological  sciences  that  we  shall  be  able  to  gather 
evidence  in  favor  of  revealed  religion. 

Growth  of  the  Anthropological  Evidence. 

For  many  centuries  the  whole  science  was  little  more 
than  a  mere  biblical  study  such  as  still  figures  in 
systems  of  divinity.     Its  chief  source  of  knowledge  was 

107 


lOS         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  Bible,  and  its  horizon  was  bounded  by  Christendom. 
The  Greek  notion  of  antipodes,  or  human  beings  on  the 
other  side  of  the  globe  with  their  feet  opposite  to  ours, 
was  repelled  by  the  Church  fathers  as  a  pagan  myth  in- 
consistent with  the  descent  of  all  mankind  from  Adam. 
It  was  also  the  orthodox  faith,  all  through  the  age  of  the 
schoolmen  and  far  into  the  age  of  the  reformers,  that  the 
whole  human  race  had  been  renewed  from  the  loins  of 
N'oah  after  the  Deluge  and  dispersed  from  the  Tower  of 
Babel  over  the  face  of  the  earth  in  different  tribes  and 
nations,  with  increasing  confusion  of  languages  and 
ever-lapsing  forms  of  faith  and  culture.  At  the  same 
time,  all  physical  pain  and  death  throughout  animate 
nature  were  referred  to  man's  apostasy,  and  the  occa- 
sional diseases  and  abnormities  of  the  human  frame 
were  treated  as  direct  expressions  of  the  divine  ven- 
geance. Under  such  a  ban  the  science  could  offer  but 
little  proof  of  the  divine  wisdom  and  goodness.  It  was 
not  until  the  religious  prejudice  against  dissections 
had  declined,  that  demonstrative  anatomy  and  physiol- 
ogy could  reveal  the  wonderful  structure  and  life  of 
the  human  body.  And  it  was  not  until  geographical 
discovery  had  proved  the  existence  of  other  human 
races,  languages,  and  arts  than  those  known  to  history, 
that  ethnology,  philology,  and  archaeology  could  gain  a 
fair  field  of  research  and  begin  to  disclose  these  sources 
of  religious  evidence  which  we  have  found  so  abvmdant 
in  astronomy  and  geology.  If  its  yield  of  evidence 
shall  prove  less  impressive  than  in  those  sciences,  it  will 
be  owing  to  its  own  greater  complexity  and  relative  im- 
perfection. 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       109 


The  Testimony  of  Anthropologists. 

It  is  sometimes  alleged  that  the  testimony  of  anthro- 
pologists is  largely  unfavorable.  The  studies  of  biolo- 
gists, especially  of  physicians,  are  supposed  to  blunt 
the  spiritual  perceptions  and  give  a  bias  toward  ma- 
terialism and  atheism.  But  the  very  reverse  might  be 
argued,  if  only  on  the  principle  of  contrast.  There  is 
nothing  in  gross  physical  organs  and  functions  to  sug- 
gest the  finer  psychical  powers  and  feelings,  but  rather 
much,  in  any  normal  constitution,  to  cause  their  vigor- 
ous recoil  and  self-maintenance.  Nor  have  anthropolo- 
gists, as  a  class,  been  materialists  and  atheists.  The 
few  exceptions  may  be  explained  as  due  to  no  legitimate 
effect  of  their  researches,  but  to  some  sinister  influence. 
Drs.  Nott  and  Gliddon  betrayed  a  political  preju- 
dice, as  well  as  religious  animosity,  in  their  ethnologi- 
cal writings  concerning  the  African  slave  as  compared 
with  other  races.  Haeckel,  Biichner,  and  Yogt  have 
'assailed  the  biblical  anthropology  in  the  tone  of  Vol- 
taire, but  with  unscientific  virulence  and  coarseness.  It 
was  not  as  a  strict  biologist,  keeping  in  his  own  lines  of 
inquiry,  that  Huxley  ran  against  the  scriptural  doctrine 
of  man's  place  in  Nature,  but  as  an  agnostic  metaphy- 
sician and  lay  preacher  wandering  ultra  crepidem. 
Leidy,  Cope,  and  Marsh  may  have  left  no  direct  relig- 
ious testimony.  But  many  of  the  greatest  names  in 
anthropology,  carrying  w  itli  them  the  most  weight,  are 
avowedly  on  the  side  of  revealed  religion.  This  is 
true  not  only  of  numerous  missionary  ethnologists,  lin- 
guists, and  antiquarians  who  have  become  authorities 
in  the  science,  but  of  its  direct  founders  and  their  sue- 


110         EVIDENCES  OF  liEVEALED  nELIQlOJSr 

cessors.  Tlie  great  naturalist  Linna>us  declared  that 
lie  stood  mute  with  amazement  at  the  inconceivable  Di- 
vine wisdom  displayed  throughout  living  nature.  Prout 
and  Bell  devoted  their  physiological  attainments  to  the 
high  argument  for  a  God.  Prichard  and  Agassiz  did 
not  disdain  to  include  the  Scriptures  among  their 
sources  of  ethnological  knowledge.  Richard  Owen, 
styled  the  Newton  of  natural  history,  is  said  to  have 
collected  "  The  Testimony  of  Comparative  Anatomy  and 
Zoology  "  to  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.  Carpenter, 
in  his  classical  work,  has  asserted  the  spirituality  and  im- 
mortality of  the  psychical  principle  in  the  very  realm  of 
human  physiology.  And  a  host  of  other  biologists  might 
be  named,  some  still  living,  who,  while  keeping  in  their 
own  province  with  scientific  rigor,  still  leave  an  ever- 
open  door  beyond  it  into  the  outlying  domains  of  re- 
vealed truth. 

Anthropological  Facts  and  Truths. 

The  perfect  agreement  of  anthropological  facts  with 
revealed  truths  can  be  easily  shown  without  being  fully 
unfolded.  It  will  be  enough  to  bring  together  the  chief 
of  those  facts  and  truths  in  order  to  see  that  they  belong 
to  one  another  inseparably  in  any  sound  philosophy. 
Before  us,  on  the  one  hand,  appears  a  consummate  sys- 
tem of  human  physiology  recapitulating  in  man  the 
whole  organic  scale  of  advancing  types  beneath  him  and 
exhibiting  him  as  the  most  perfect  organism  in  the 
world ;  on  the  other  side,  man  is  revealed  to  us  as 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  inspired  with  a  living  soul, 
and  receiving  dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the 
fishes  of  the  sea,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air.    Sunder  these 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTITROPOLOOT       111 

two  congruous  statements,  and  at  one  extreme  civilized 
man  will  seem  but  a  developed  animal  in  the  satanic 
image  of  an  ape,  while  at  the  other  extreme  the  Divine 
image  in  man  may  be  asserted,  but  as  yet  only  dimly 
discerned.  Then  reunite  the  two  statements,  and  at 
once  the  perfect  human  creature  will  stand  forth  as  the 
very  masterpiece  of  the  Creator,  radiant  with  His  glori- 
ous wisdom  in  every  part  and  faculty — in  the  eye,  the 
ear,  the  hand,  the  tongue,  the  heart,  the  brain,  and,  high 
above  all,  the  godlike  soul.  He  will  himself  realize  his 
delegated  sovereignty  over  the  whole  inferior  creation, 
and,  conscious  of  his  divine  likeness,  be  ready  to  ex- 
claim :  "I  will  praise  Him ;  for  I  am  fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made,  and  that  my  soul  knoweth  right 
well." 

Evidential  Literature, 

While  geology  illustrates,  as  we  have  seen,  the  divine 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  throughout  the  earth, 
anthropology  comes  to  carry  that  illustration  to  its  fit 
climax  in  man,  at  the  summit  of  living  nature, 

''  The  beauty  of  the  world  !  the  paragon 
Of  animals  !  " 

The  literature  of  the  argument  has  grown  with  the 
growth  of  the  anthropological  sciences.  Among  its 
classics  should  be  placed  in  the  first  rank,  as  not  yet 
quite  obsolete,  the  work  of  Archdeacon  Paley,  who, 
while  not  neglecting  other  provinces  of  natural  theology, 
devoted  himself  especially  to  the  admirable  mechanism 
of  the  body,  as  illustrated  b}^  that  of  a  watch,  to  exam- 
ples of  prospective   contrivance  for  the  care   of   the 


112         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

young,  to  the  plienomena  of  iustiuct,  to  the  marvellous 
adaptations  and  compensations  among  the  different 
organs  of  the  animal  economy,  and  to  the  more  general 
relations  between  all  animate  and  inanimate  nature. 
The  Ivev.  William  Kirby,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise 
on  the  "  Creation  of  Animals,"  beginning  at  the  lowest 
foundations  of  the  argument,  dwelt  with  careful  mi- 
nuteness upon  the  functions  and  instincts  of  infusories, 
polyps,  radiaries,  cephalopods,  etc.,  as  alike  resplendent 
with  marks  of  divine  wisdom.  Dr.  Peter  Mark  Roget, 
in  the  treatise  on  "Animal  and  Vegetable  Physiology," 
ascending  higher  in  the  organic  realms,  enlarged  upon 
the  benevolent  intention  of  the  Creator  to  secure  the 
welfare  of  individuals  as  seen  in  the  conservative  and 
reproductive  functions,  both  mechanical  and  vital,  of  the 
different  species  of  mollusca,  articulata,  and  vertebrata. 
Dr.  William  Prout,  in  the  treatise  on  "Chemistry, 
Meteorology,  and  Digestion  with  reference  to  Natural 
Theology,"  drew  his  argument  from  the  preadjusted 
proportions  of  air,  water,  and  land  for  the  sustenance  of 
life,  the  adaptations  of  climate  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
different  zones,  the  correspondence  between  the  external 
mechanical  organs  and  the  internal  digestive  functions 
of  carnivorous  or  herbivorous  tribes,  and  the  vital  re- 
lations between  plants  and  animals  and  the  general 
economy  of  nature.  Sir  Charles  Bell,  crowning  this 
series  of  treatises  with  his  masterly  monograph  on 
"  The  Hand,"  has  traced  its  beneficent  design  as  the 
distinguishing  member  in  the  human  frame,  the  organ 
of  touch  and  sensibility,  the  instrument  of  mechanical 
and  artistic  skill,  and  the  prime  mover  in  all  progress 
and  civilization. 

The  problematical  agreement  of  anthropological  spec- 


THE  EVIDENCE   FROM  ANTHROPOLOOY       113 

ulafcions  with  revealed  doctrines  is  still  in  the  early  stage 
of  disturbing  long-received  interpretation  of  Scripture. 
But  it  has  its  hopeful  precedent  in  the  more  advanced 
sciences  with  which  it  is  connected,  and  it  is  beginning 
to  give  promise  of  a  like  ultimate  harmony.  We  shall 
find  this  to  bo  the  state  of  the  question  in  reference  to 
each  of  the  three  unsolved  problems  of  the  origin,  the 
development,  and  the  destiny  of  mankind. 

Tlie   Oonsfniicy  of  Species. 

As  to  the  origin  of  mankind,  two  rival  hypotheses 
are  in  the  field.  The  early  anthropologists,  such  as 
Linnaeus,  Cuvier,  and  Agassiz,  held  to  the  constancy 
of  the  human  species  in  distinction  from  all  animal 
species.  It  had  become  a  scientific  tenet,  as  well  as 
a  religious  tradition,  that  about  six  thousand  years 
ago  plants,  animals,  and  man  sprang  into  being  by  suc- 
cessive fiats,  and  have  ever  since  continued  invariable, 
each  after  its  kind,  through  all  climates,  ages,  and  con- 
ditions. The  naturalists  of  that  day  laid  a  foundation 
for  this  tenet  b}^  showing  anatomical  resemblances  be- 
tween mummied  and  extant  specimens  of  the  cat  and 
the  dog  in  Egypt,  with  an  interval  of  thousands  of  years, 
and  by  showing  such  resemblances  between  the  same 
domestic  animals  and  their  wild  ancestors,  the  tiger  and 
the  wolf,  notwithstanding  any  differences  of  asuperfici.il 
nature.  It  was  also  claimed  that  the  infertility  of  livl)rid 
varieties  of  plants  and  animals,  obtained  by  artificial 
selection,  w^as  adverse  to  anything  like  natural  selection 
or  gradual  transmutation  of  species  ;  that  it  would  be  as 
absurd  to  argue  the  descent  of  cats  from  fishes  at  the 
j)resent  day  as  in  j)ast  geological  epochs ;  and  that  the 
8 


114  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIOWN 

differences  between  fossil  and  living  species  indicate 
successive  creations  and  destructions  of  organic  life  by 
means  of  cataclysms  or  other  great  terrestrial  convul- 
sions. On  the  basis  of  such  reasoning,  leading  ethnol- 
ogists, like  Blumenbach,  Prichard,  and  Agassiz,  have 
maintained  that  both  savage  and  civilized  man,  like  the 
wild  and  domesticated  brute,  have  retained  the  same 
anatomical  structure  under  all  diversities  of  complexion 
and  in  all  climates — Asiatic,  European,  American,  Afri- 
can— while  physical  and  psychical  differences  reveal  an 
impassable  gulf  between  animal  and  human  species,  for- 
bidding any  possible  evolution  of  the  one  into  the  other. 
Philologists,  also,  like  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt  and 
Max  Miiller,  have  denied  the  animal  origin  of  language, 
and  referred  it  to  the  human  reason  alone,  the  talking 
parrot  and  educated  elephant  being  wholly  insusceptible 
of  hereditary  improvement  or  civilization.  Arclueolo- 
gists,  too,  of  the  same  school,  such  as  Champollion  and 
Ferguson,  have  traced  genetic  affinities  between  the 
ancient  monuments  of  Asia,  Europe,  and  America ;  have 
described  primitive  man  as  lapsing  through  golden, 
silver,  and  brazen  ages  into  a  savage  state ;  and  have 
insisted  that  the  oldest  skulls  and  other  human  remains, 
instead  of  proving  his  bestial  origin,  give  hints  even  of 
religious  ideas  and  customs.  To  all  this  evidence  against 
human  development  has  been  added  the  proof  of  a  pos- 
itive degeneracy.  Such  writers  as  Hugh  Miller,  Gobi- 
neau,  and  Argyll  have  maintained  that  civilization  always 
apjDears  as  communicated  from  one  people  to  another, 
never  as  inherently  developed ;  that  the  loss  of  ancient 
arts,  especially  of  religion,  as  by  the  Hottentot  and  the 
Esquimau,  is  due  to  adverse  climate  and  moral  corrupti- 
bility ;  that  some  races  are  in  a  state  of  permanent  in- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTIIROPOLOGY       115 

feriority,  and  that  all  races,  like  all  individuals,  are 
doomed  under  fixed  physiological  laws  to  decline  and 
die.  In  a  word,  it  is  held  certain  that,  Avithin  the  his- 
torical period,  there  has  been  no  evolution  of  animals 
into  men,  but  rather  a  degeneracy  of  human  races  in  a 
descending  scale  from  man  as  made  in  the  image  of  God 
toward  man  as  debased  into  the  likeness  of  an  ape. 

The  Evolution  of  Species. 

Anthropologists  of  the  other  school,  however,  as 
strenuoush'  maintain  the  development  of  animal  into 
human  species.  The  traditional  belief  in  a  primitive 
creation  of  fixed  orders  of  plants,  animals,  and  men  has 
been  undermined  by  scientific  research  and  scepticism. 
The  way  was  opened  by  naturalists,  such  as  Lamarck, 
Hooker,  and  Wallace,  arguing  for  a  continuous  variation 
of  species  throughout  the  organic  scale,  by  means  of 
the  steady  adjustment  of  organism  to  environment — the 
beech  supplanting  the  pine,  and  the  rose  the  wild  thorn  ; 
the  stranded  tortoise  growing  into  the  turtle,  the  high- 
browsing  cattle  into  the  giraffe,  the  fleet  wild  goat  into 
the  gazelle ;  nature  ever  selecting  and  preserving  the 
best  breeds  or  the  fittest  to  survive  in  the  circumstances. 
It  was  explained  that  mummied  and  living  cats  have  not 
changed  because  their  environment,  the  climate  of  Egypt, 
has  not  changed  for  thousands  of  ^ears,  and  that  no 
cataclysm  or  convulsion  has  effaced  the  fossil  evidence 
of  species  evolving  into  species  through  long  epochs, 
with  the  changing  climate  of  the  globe.  Advancing 
upon  such  reasoning,  biologists,  such  as  Darwin,  Hux- 
ley, and  Haeckel,  have  found  man's  place  in  nature  at 
the  climax  of  this  organic  evolution,  and  have  sought 


116         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED   HELIGION 

proof  of  his  auimal  origin  in  the  phases  of  his  fetal  de- 
velopment, in  the  expression  of  his  physiognomy,  in 
the  mental  and  moral  traits  which  he  shares  with  the 
cat,  the  dog,  the  parrot ;  in  his  anatomical  resemblances 
to  the  higher  simian  species ;  and  especially  in  a  relic 
at  the  base  of  the  vertebral  column  indicating  his  de- 
scent from  a  tailed,  ape-like  man,  arboreal  in  his  habits, 
becoming  erect  and  dexterous,  but  still  wanting  the  dis- 
tinctive facult}^  of  human  speech.  As  if  to  supi3ly  this 
want,  philologists,  like  Sleicher,  Yiiger,  and  Iloyer,  have 
traced  language  back  through  fossil  dialects  and  pho- 
netic types  to  its  sources  in  animal  cries  and  imitative 
acts,  such  as  the  pairing-call  of  birds  and  the  gesture 
language  of  monkeys,  and  have  suggested  that  it  is  only 
a  matter  of  sufficient  time  to  develop  under  linguistic 
laws  the  chatter  of  scolding  apes  in  a  primeval  forest  to 
the  comedies  of  Moliere  on  the  modern  stage.  Archae- 
ologists also,  such  as  De  Perthes,  Stevens,  Westropp, 
have  looked  for  primeval  man  as  a  half-animal  savage 
in  caves  and  lake-dwellings  ;  have  sketched  his  slow  de- 
scent in  connection  with  changing  climates,  through  ages 
of  stone,  of  bronze,  and  of  iron,  according  to  the  cast-off 
implements  used  in  his  progress,  and  have  surmised  that 
the  first  man  who  struck  one  pebble  against  another  to 
give  it  more  regular  form  gave  the  first  blow  of  the 
chisel  which  produced  the  marbles  of  the  Parthenon. 
The  whole  argument,  biological,  linguistic,  antiquarian, 
has  been  made  cumulative  by  philosophical  writers,  like 
Lubbock  and  Lyell,  who  have  discovered  traces  of  in- 
cipient culture  in  the  most  barbarous  tribes,  as  well  as 
of  original  barbarism  in  the  most  cultured  nations,  and 
have  asserted  a  gradual  transmutation  of  species,  lan- 
guages, and  arts  from  the  earliest  mammalia  of  the  plio- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       117 

cene  period  to  the  civilized  man  of  our  epoch.  In  short, 
it  is  now  claimed  that  evolution  reigns  not  only  through- 
out the  whole  paleontological  scale  of  animal  species, 
but  also  through  the  historic  scale  of  human  races,  from 
the  low  forehead  of  the  anthropoid  ape  up  to  the  ver- 
tical brow  of  the  Apollo. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  First  Adam, 

Such  are  the  two  anthropological  opinions  which 
stand  related  to  the  revealed  doctrine  of  the  First 
Adam.  As  yet,  they  are  still  so  imj>erfect  and  conflict- 
ing that  they  cannot  be  fully  reconciled  with  that  doc- 
trine ;  nor  is  such  reconciliation  necessary  or  very  im- 
portant. But  they  contain  grains  of  truth  which  should 
be  sifted  from  them  in  order  that  we  may  understand 
the  exact  state  of  the  question.  The  first  opinion  long 
reigned  in  biblical  interpretation,  as  we  have  seen ;  and 
even  after  the  absurdity  of  a  sudden  creation  of  organic 
species  began  to  be  shown,  the  evidence  was  resisted 
or  evaded.  Devout  biologists,  like  Agassiz  and  Owen, 
continued  to  conceive  of  the  serried  orders  of  plants 
and  animals,  as  but  so  many  divine  archetypes  or  ideals 
successively  produced  and  realized  at  intervals,  in  an- 
ticipation of  man,  as  the  last  and  highest  ideal  of  the 
Creator.  And  more  fanciful  writers,  like  Schlegel  and 
Delitsch,  have  described  great  geological  convulsions  as 
birth-throes  of  the  earth  in  bringing  forth  monster  flone 
and  faunae  before  the  sudden  manipulation  of  man  as  a 
clay  effigy  to  be  inspired  with  a  living  soul  and  im- 
pressed with  the  divine  image.  It  is  probable  that 
Milton's  graphic  picture  of  such  a  creation  still  largely 
pervades  the  popular  mind.     But  the  opposite  opinion 


118  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

of  the  evolutionists  lias  lately  been  gaining  ground. 
Intelligent  interpreters  of  Scripture,  such  as  Winchell, 
Henslow,  and  Mivart,  have  already  blended  evolution- 
ism with  creationism,  throughout  the  inorganic  realms 
of  the  first  three  days,  when  heaven  and  earth  and  sea 
were  formed ;  then,  throughout  the  organic  realms  of 
the  last  three  days,  when  fishes  and  beasts  and  birds 
were  formed ;  and  so  have  carried  evolution  to  the  point 
where  man  was  created  as  the  last  of  the  divine  works. 
If  now  we  conceive  of  that  creation  of  man  as  a  process 
rather  than  as  an  act,  and  make  the  sixth  day  of  crea- 
tion as  indefinite  in  time  as  the  preceding  daj^s,  the 
animal  organism  of  man  will  emerge,  not  like  a  dead 
statue  amidst  living  nature,  but  as  the  consummate 
fiower  of  her  whole  physical  evolution.  And  then  his 
special  endowment  with  psychical  qualities  and  divine 
resemblances  will  follow  as  new  miraculous  acts  or 
subsequent  processes  during  the  historic  period.  This 
interpretation  has  been  foreshadowed  by  patristic  and 
scholastic  writers,  long  before  science  could  have  com- 
pelled or  suggested  it ;  and  it  is  grammatically  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Scriptures.  It  is  distinctly  said  that 
man  was  formed  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  his 
connection  with  animate  nature  is  implied  in  the  do- 
minion assigned  to  him  over  the  fish  of  the  sea  and  the 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  every  creeping  thing  upon  the  earth. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  whichever  of  the  two  opinions  we 
adopt,  whether  we  regard  the  human  organism  as  the  last 
of  a  series  of  creative  ideals  or  of  developed  types,  the 
language  of  the  biologist  could  scarcely  be  more  accu- 
rate than  the  devout  phrase  of  the  Psalmist :  "  In  thy 
book  all  my  members  Avere  written  which  in  continuance 
were  fashioned  when  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them." 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       119 


Unity  of  the  Ba>ce. 

The  second  problem  relates  to  the  development  of 
mankind  into  a  plurality  of  races.  The  elder  school  of 
anthropologists  held  strictly  to  the  phj^sical  unity  of  the 
human  species.  The  dogmatic  tradition  of  a  descent  of 
all  mankind  from  Adam  and  Eve  had  become  accepted 
as  a  scientific  postulate,  and  iu  support  of  it  was  arrayed 
the  crude  physical  science  of  that  day.  The  way  was 
opened  by  naturalists  such  as  Adelung  and  Linutcus, 
basing  the  unity  of  each  organic  species  upon  its  fixity. 
It  was  assumed  that  plants,  beasts,  and  birds  as  primor- 
dial creations  were  propagated  from  Paradise  or  from 
the  Ark  of  Noah  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  each 
keeping  its  structural  likeness,  through  all  changes  of 
climate  and  culture  and  in  spite  of  any  geographical 
barriers  or  terrestrial  convulsions.  By  similar  reasoning, 
the  ethnologists,  such  as  Cuvier,  Pri chard,  and  Bach- 
man,  maintained  the  organic  unity  of  the  human  species. 
It  was  argued  that  since  cultivated  plants  (the  vine,  rice, 
and  wheat)  and  domesticated  animals  (the  swine,  dog, 
and  horse)  are  everywhere  found  associated  with  man, 
they  must  have  originated  with  him  somewhere  iu 
Central  Asia,  since  he  would  be  organically  inferior  to 
them  if  he  could  not  cope  with  adverse  climate,  as  well 
as  other  animal  species,  Avhicli  had  spread  from  pole  to 
pole  around  the  globe.  Such  writers  also  maintain  that 
the  common  origin  of  the  Caucasian,  Mongolian,  and 
Ethiopian  races,  or  white,  yellow,  and  black  races,  of 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  was  indicated  by  their  ana- 
tomical sameness  and  fertile  intermarriages,  notwith- 
standing any  physiognomical   difterences,  such  as  the 


120         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

color  of  the  skin,  the  texture  of  the  hair,  or  the  angle  of 
the  face,  all  which  were  merely  the  effect  of  climate,  habit, 
and  culture.  The  philologists,  in  like  manner,  such  as 
the  two  Humboldts,  Latham,  and  Bunsen,  held  to  the 
common  origin  of  languages  as  well  as  races.  It  w^as 
maintained  that  affinities  of  speech  are  sure  proof  of  the 
affinities  of  the  most  widely  separated  races,  as  well  as 
of  their  radiation  from  the  same  geographical  centre, 
and  attempts  were  made  to  trace  back  the  existing  dia- 
lects of  Europe,  x4.frica,  and  America  through  various 
linguistic  stages  to  the  one  primitive  tongue  and  pair  in 
Central  Asia.  The  archaeologists,  also,  in  different  con- 
tinents, have  referred  ancient  monuments  and  traditions 
to  a  common  source  in  the  East  as  the  cradle  of  civili- 
zation. It  was  claimed,  not  only  that  the  culture  of 
European  nations,  but  also  that  of  China,  Hindoostan, 
and  Thibet,  had  been  early  derived  from  Central  Asia ; 
and  that  the  Indian  mounds  and  Mexican  temples  of 
America  betray  the  same  Asiatic  origin  with  the  crom- 
lechs of  Britain  and  the  pyramids  of  Egypt.  To  all  this 
biological,  linguistic,  and  antiquarian  testimony  might 
be  added  that  of  strict  evolutionists,  like  Lyell,  Haeckel, 
and  Pouchet,  wdio  are  ready  to  admit,  if  only  sufficient 
time  be  allowed  for  the  stone,  iron,  and  bronze  ages, 
that  mankind  may  have  descended  from  one  pair. 

The  later  scliool  of  anthropologists,  however,  has  ad- 
vocated a  plurality  of  human  races.  Geographical  dis- 
covery combined  with  biological  research  to  suggest  the 
existence  of  other  tribes  of  men  than  those  mentioned 
in  Scripture  and  included  within  the  pale  of  orthodoxy. 
The  naturalists,  such  as  De  Candolle  and  Pennant,  be- 
gan the  argument  by  maintaining  that  all  plants  and 
animals  could  not  have  migrated  from  Eastern  Asia  over 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY        121 

wide  oceans  into  adverse  climates;  by  showing  that 
they  have  structural  differences  forbidding  a  common 
descent ;  and  by  dividing  the  earth  into  botanical  and 
zoological  provinces,  each  producing  its  own  flora  and 
fauna  or  specific  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life. 
On  the  ground  of  such  analogies,  ethnologists,  such  as 
Agassiz  and  Forbes,  have  maintained  a  plural  origin  of 
human  races,  as  well  as  of  plants  and  animals.  They 
have  shown  that  a  geographical  distribution  of  all  tribes 
and  nations  from  one  parent,  from  Adam  or  Noah,  was 
physically  impossible  ;  that  it  would  imply  incredible 
fertility  within  the  period  allowed  for  it ;  that  it  is  for- 
bidden by  anatomical  diversities  in  the  hand,  the  profile, 
and  the  skull  as  well  as  in  the  color  of  the  hair  and  the 
skin ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  great  xVsiatic,  European, 
American,  and  African  races,  together  with  the  flone  and 
faunae  severally  connected  with  them,  must  have  been 
separately  created  or  produced  in  the  continents  where 
they  are  found.  Philologists,  likewise,  such  as  Pott 
and  Sleicher,  have  advocated  a  plural  origin  of  languages 
as  well  as  of  races.  They  have  argued  that  there  are  no 
such  affinities  of  human  speech  as  point  back  to  one 
primitive  tongue  and  pair  ;  that  any  words  common  to 
different  peoples  may  be  referred  to  maritime  adventure 
and  commerce,  as  in  our  modern  languages ;  that  the 
aboriginal  dialects  of  America,  unlike  the  mixed  tongues 
of  Europe  and  Asia,  are  as  distinct  and  local  as  its  an- 
imal products,  and  consequently  that  each  continental 
species  must  have  had  its  own  native  tongue  at  the  be- 
ginning. Archaeologists,  also,  such  as  Pulsky,  Romans, 
Le  Plongeon,  have  contended  for  a  multiple  origin  of 
arts,  as  well  as  of  languages  and  races.  They  have  in- 
sisted that  any  resemblances  between  the  American  and 


122         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  Asiatic  monuments  and  traditions,  instead  of  indi- 
cating historic  descent,  are  purely  accidental  or  ideal ; 
that  the  Mexican  temples,  so  far  from  being  imported 
forms,  are  native  products  antedating  the  oldest  ruins 
of  Europe  and  Asia.  They  have  even  surmised  that 
astronomical  and  geological  conditions  then  existed 
which  indicate  an  ancient  tropical  flora  and  fauna 
at  the  pole  and  point  to  Central  America  as  the  true 
cradle  of  civilization,  which,  they  maintain,  flowed 
Eastward,  with  the  changing  axis  of  the  earth  toward  the 
sun,  until  it  reached  Asia  and  Europe,  whence  it  is  re- 
turning with  the  westward  march  of  empire  in  our  day. 
To  all  this  ethnological,  philological,  and  archaeological 
evidence,  it  should  be  added  that  leading  progression- 
ists, like  Agassiz  and  Gobineau,  have  frankly  admitted 
a  plurality  of  races,  while  still  adhering  to  the  ideal, 
moral,  and  religious  unity  of  the  species. 

Doctrine  of  the  Fall  of  Adam. 

It  is,  perhaps,  premature  to  attempt  any  very  accu- 
rate adjustment  of  these  complex  speculations  to  the 
revealed  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  mankind.  If  they  seem 
now  to  menace  that  doctrine,  as  popularly  understood, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  they  are  still  largely  hy- 
pothetical and  conflicting ;  that  it  Avould  be  safe  to 
await  their  further  development ;  that  they  are  not  likely 
to  disturb  existing  interpretation  of  Script ui'e  more  se- 
riously than  it  has  been  disturbed  by  other  more  ad- 
vanced sciences  with  which  it  is  now  in  harmony  ;  and 
that  the  present  state  of  the  question  is  already  as 
ho])eful  as  the  case  admits  or  requires. 

The  first  opinion,  the  physical  unity  of  the  race,  has 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       123 

long  been  practically  identified  with  orthodoxy.  It  has 
been  both  the  dogmatic  and  popular  belief  that  a  single 
individual,  Adam,  was  the  sole  progenitor  of  the  whole 
human  species ;  that  by  eating  forbidden  fruit  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  he  involved  all  mankind  in  sin  and 
misery ;  that  the  whole  corrupt  race  was  swept  from 
the  earth  by  the  Deluge,  except  Noah,  his  family,  and 
the  animals  in  the  ark ;  that  liis  three  sons,  Shem, 
Ham,  Japhet,  became  respectively  the  ancestors  of  the 
Asiatic,  European,  and  x4.frican  races ;  and  that  by  the 
confusion  of  tongues  at  the  tower  of  Babel,  all  exist- 
ing tribes  and  nations  have  become  dispersed  over  the 
globe.  In  support  of  these  tenets  learned  commenta- 
tors have  calculated  the  stowage  of  the  Ark  with  refer- 
ence to  the  fauna  of  that  period ;  have  traced  back  all 
languages  to  the  one  inspired  Hebrew  as  spoken  in 
Paradise  ere  it  became  broken  into  jarring  dialects  at 
Babel ;  and  have  found  fulfilment  of  the  predictions  of 
Noah  in  the  Shemitic  nations  of  Asia  as  the  great  re- 
ligious peoples,  in  the  Japhetic  nations  of  Europe  as 
the  colonizing  peoples,  and  in  the  Hamitic  nations  of 
Africa  as  the  enslaved  peoples,  servants  of  servants. 
And  notwithstanding  the  discovery  of  other  races,  lan- 
guages, and  arts  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  intrepid 
etlorts  have  been  made  to  make  them  fit  into  the 
sacred  record,  by  connecting  the  monuments  and  tra- 
ditions of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific  Islands  with  Noah's 
Ark  and  the  Tower  of  Babel,  by  claiming  Polynesian 
and  American  languages  as  debased  dialects  of  the 
one  primitive  Hebrew,  and  by  identifying  the  North 
American  Indians  as  the  expelled  Canaanites  or  lost 
tribes  of  Israel.  Like  St.  Augustine,  such  divines 
seemed  ready  to  deny  the  very  antipodes  rather  than 


124         EVIDENCES  OP  REVEALED  RELIGION 

imperil  their  dogmatic  conception  of  a  physical  unity  of 
the  race. 

Physical  Unity  of  Mankind, 

But  the  accumulating  difficulties  of  such  interpreta- 
tion have  at  length  caused  a  reaction  toward  the  opin- 
ion of  a  plurality  of  human  races.  Scientific  students 
of  Scripture,  such  as  Pye  Smith  and  McCausland,  on 
the  basis  of  the  devout  speculations  of  Agassiz  and 
Guyot,  have  admitted  the  existence  of  co- Adamite  races 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  as  dwelling  in  the  land  of  Nod 
and  the  cities  of  Enoch,  and  even  of  pre- Adamite  races, 
not  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  but  now  surviving  as  the 
African  and  Patagonian  savages,  still  in  the  paleolithic, 
or  early  stone  epoch  of  human  development.  The  con- 
tention is  that  the  Adamite  race,  or  Caucasian  Jewish 
people,  was  divinely  selected  as  the  choicest  breed  of 
mankind  and  brought  under  a  special  supernatural 
economy,  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  regeneration  of  all 
other  races  and  nations.  It  is  claimed  that  this  inter- 
pretation is  not  inconsistent  with  the  statement  of  St. 
Paul  that  God  hath  made  of  one  (blood)  all  men,  since 
it  is  still  literally  true  of  all  human  races  that  they  have 
the  same  physiological  structure,  and  even  psychical 
capacity,  though  created  or  developed  at  different  geo- 
graphical centres.  Nor  is  it  necessarily  hostile  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  First  Adam,  since  Caucasian  Man  would 
still  represent  all  mankind  in  the  old  economy  and  be- 
come a  figure  of  Christ  as  the  second  Adam  in  the  new 
economy,  while  the  mystery  of  original  sin  remains  the 
same  inscrutable  fact  as  on  the  other  hypothesis.  More- 
over, the  creation  of  man  in  the  divine  image,  like  the 
other  creative  works,  may  be  conceived  of  as  a  contin- 


uous  process  or  gradual  development  of  man  toward  the 
likeness  of  God,  during  the  present  historic  period. 

The  Divine  Image  in  3Ian. 

Such  interpretation  is  by  no  means  to  be  brushed 
aside  as  a  modern  make -shift  or  exegetical  device.  It 
can  be  based  upon  a  distinction  long  since  made  by 
theologians  between  the  divine  image  as  lost  or  restored, 
as  original  or  developed.  And  it  may  derive  grammat- 
ical support  from  learned  Hebraists,  such  as  Haver- 
nick,  Pusey,  and  the  late  Dr.  Green.  If  we  take  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  as  a  general  revelation  of  the 
Creation  of  the  heaven  and  earth  and  man,  the  second 
chapter  will  follow  as  a  more  special  revelation  of  the 
primitive  state  of  man  after  the  heaven  and  the  earth 
had  been  created.  In  form  it  is  didactic  and  topical, 
rather  than  historical  and  chronological,  and  the  time- 
element  may  be  disregarded.  It  sets  fcn'tli  at  first  the 
primitive  earth  becoming  habitable  and  cultivated  like 
a  garden,  the  primitive  man  as  derived  from  the  ground 
and  inspired  with  a  living  soul,  the  normal  relation  of 
man  to  organic  nature,  the  development  of  language,  and 
the  institution  or  ideal  of  marriage  in  a  state  of  inno- 
cence and  purity.  Then  follows,  in  the  third  chapter,  a 
description  of  the  corruption  of  human  nature  through 
the  appetites  and  passions  under  Satanic  influence,  and 
its  consequent  condition  of  labor,  sorrow,  and  death. 
The  scene  is  laid  in  Eastern  Asia,  some  time  early  in  the 
historic  period ;  but  as  an  ideal  picture  of  primeval  man 
it  might  almost  be  conceived  without  regard  to  time  or 
place  ;  and  the  adjustment  of  the  pre-Adamite,  co-Adam- 
ite, and  Adamite  races  becomes  a  mere  question  of  de- 


126  FVIDEKrES  OF  REVEALED  RELIOIOX 

tail  which  may  well  await  the  more  complete  researches 
of  anthropologists. 

Such  is  the  present  mixed  state  of  this  question.  AVe 
need  not  adopt  either  of  the  two  hypotheses  before  us ; 
but  whichever  we  may  favor,  whether  we  regard  the 
unity  of  the  race  as  physical  or  as  psychical ;  whetlier 
we  conceive  of  the  scriptural  Adam  as  a  progenitor  or 
as  a  representative  of  mankind  ;  whether  we  think  of 
universal  depravity  as  a  primitive  event  or  as  a  present 
condition — in  either  case  it  remains  undeniably  true,  as 
St.  Paul  tells  us :  "  In  Adam  all  die." 

Critical  Problems, 

Let  it  now  be  added  that  this  remaining  truth  stands 
sure,  whatever  critical  or  literary  questions  may  be 
raised.  Accept,  if  you  like,  the  newest  theories  in  re- 
gard to  such  questions.  Treat  the  first  and  second 
chapters  of  Genesis  as  separate  documents  by  separate 
authors,  an  Elohist  and  a  Jehovist,  with  a  Eedactor  to 
weave  them  together  as  we  now  find  them.  Treat  the 
whole  story  of  the  Fall  of  Man  as  a  divine  allegory — 
the  tree  of  knoAvledge  as  a  sacred  symbol,  the  talk  of 
Eve  with  the  Serpent  and  of  Jehovah  with  Adam  as  an 
inspired  parable  —  nevertheless,  here  in  these  arcliaic 
writings,  under  this  simj)le  imagery,  is  a  portrait  of 
primitive  man,  which  stands  alone  in  history ;  which 
has  outlived  the  myths  and  legends  of  the  mightiest  na- 
tions, Assyrian,  Egyptian,  Grecian,  Koman  ;  which  still 
colors  the  civilization  of  our  age  ;  which  our  anthrojDol- 
ogy  is  but  beginning  to  verify ;  and  Avhich  the  strictest 
evolutionist  must  adopt  whenever  he  reads  the  words : 
"  The  First  Adam  is  of  the  earth  earthy." 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTIIROPOLOGV       1'27 


Physical  Decline  of  ManVind. 

The  third  problem  of  anthropolog}^  relates  to  the 
destiny  of  maukiud.  The  elder  school  has  looked  for 
a  physical  decay  and  extinction  of  the  species.  The 
classic  myth  of  a  decline  of  the  race  through  golden, 
silver,  and  brazen  ages  into  a  degeneracy  requiring  its 
destruction  by  divine  judgment,  has  been  followed  by 
scientific  presages  of  a  coming  ruin  through  purely 
physical  causes.  As  some  astronomers  have  predicted 
a  diminishing  heat  in  the  sun  which  sustains  the  earth  ; 
as  some  geologists  have  detected  a  decreasing  fertility 
of  the  earth  which  sustains  its  plants  and  animals ;  and 
some  naturalists  have  discerned  a  loss  of  prolific  vigor 
in  cultivated  plants  and  domesticated  animals — so  some 
anthropologists,  from  every  quai-ter  of  their  domain, 
have  gathered  signs  of  a  like  deterioration  of  man. 
Ethnologists  have  told  us  of  extinct  nations  and  starving 
tribes  in  hostile  climates ;  of  hybrid  stocks  dying  out 
through  infertility ;  of  the  imbecile  sons  of  brainy  an- 
cestors ;  and  of  a  sensuous  luxury  which  is  enervating 
the  finest  breeds  of  men.  Philologists  have  spoken  of 
barbarous  dialects  perishing  without  a  memorial ;  of  de- 
]3ased  fragments  of  the  pristine  speech  of  Eden ;  of  dead 
languages  with  only  a  ghost-like  survival  among  the 
living  tongues ;  and  of  classic  literatures  waning  away 
under  the  reign  of  patois,  slang,  and  vulgar  fiction. 
Archaeologists  have  said  that  they  everywhere  find  the 
remains  of  a  high  primitive  civilization  and  even  of  lost 
arts  which  surpass  the  proudest  monuments  of  modem 
skill.  It  is  claimed  that  the  fine  arts  are  now  only  liv- 
ing upon  past  ideals,  and  that  the  industrial  arts  are 


128         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIOION 

fast  using  up  the  fertile  soils  and  coal-beds  and  precious 
mines  upon  which  all  our  civilization  depends.  In 
short,  if  we  listen  to  such  Cassandras  of  science  we 
must  expect  a  time  when  man  shall  have  exhausted  the 
earth  upon  which  he  dwells,  and  make  it  but  the  tomb 
of  all  his  greatness. 

Physical  Improvement  of  Manhlnd. 

A  later  school,  however,  is  looking  forward  to  a  phys- 
ical improvement  and  perfection  of  the  species.  The 
Utopian  dream  of  social  perfectibility  is  based  on  the 
newest  anthropological  science.  Advanced  naturalists 
of  the  evolutionary  school  have  been  predicting  a  future 
when  artificial  selection  shall  have  replaced  natural 
selection  everywhere  but  in  the  sea ;  when  cultivated 
plants  and  animals  shall  alone  survive,  and  the  earth 
become  a  garden  for  man.  Ethnologists  of  the  same 
school  have  argued  that  the  higher  human  races  are 
ever  improving ;  that  the  lower  are  lifted  up  by  the 
higher,  as  fast  as  they  blend  with  Hebrew,  Greek,  Ko- 
man,  Norman,  Saxon  blood ;  that  genius,  like  religious 
faith,  is  hereditary  and  transmissible;  and  that  with 
growing  knowledge  and  virtue,  the  world  will  yet  be 
stocked  with  a  breed  of  heroes,  sages,  and  saints.  Phi- 
lologists, with  the  same  forward  glance,  have  looked  for 
signs  of  steady  improvement  in  the  cultivated  literary 
dialects  as  ever  reinforced  wdtli  the  new  blood  of  vulgar 
speech ;  in  the  growth  of  a  universal  language  through 
commerce  and  linguistic  study,  and  even  in  our  vernac- 
ular English  as  the  destined  perfect  speech  of  civilized 
man.  Archaeologists,  though  looking  backward,  have 
sketched  stone,  iron,  and  bronze  ages  of  the  Man  of  the 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  AKTHROPOLOOT       129 

Past  as  but  a  platform  on  which  to  project  the  silver 
and  golden  ages  of  the  Man  of  the  Future.  Some 
speculative  writers  have  imagined  the  whole  geological 
development  of  ever-refining  florae  and  faunae  and  hu- 
man races  issuing  at  length  in  a  perfected  Man  to  be  as 
ethereal  as  the  empyrean  around  us ;  and  have  even 
fancied  him,  with  new  psychical  powers,  migrating 
through  the  ethereal  medium  to  the  planets  and  to  the 
sun  itself,  in  still  higher  stages  of  cosmic  development. 
In  a  word,  if  we  could  follow  such  visionaries  of  science 
into  those  remote  periods  and  regions,  we  might  descry 
the  Future  Man  careering  with  the  earth  as  in  a  tri- 
umphal chariot  among  the  stars. 

The  First  and  Second  Adam. 

Wild  as  these  two  speculations  may  seem  to  be,  yet 
they  have  points  of  affinity  with  the  revealed  doctrine 
of  the  First  and  Second  Adam.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
notion  of  physical  decline  and  corruptibility  is  counte- 
nanced by  those  Scriptures  which  speak  of  the  First 
Adam  or  of  degenerate  humanity  ;  of  the  fall  of  man 
and  nature  from  Paradise ;  of  the  ground  as  cursed  for 
his  sake  with  thorns  and  barrenness  ;  of  the  whole  earth 
becoming  so  corrupt  as  to  require  the  cleansing  baptism 
of  the  Deluge  ;  of  the  confusion  of  tongues  and  dispers- 
ing of  peoj)les  as  a  divine  frustration  of  their  impiety  ; 
of  their  continued  lapse  and  corruption  through  follow- 
ing ages,  and  of  a  final  judgment  of  mankind  when  the 
earth  shall  be  burned  up  with  all  the  works  that  are 
therein.  On  the  other  hand,  the  notion  of  physical  im- 
provement and  perfectibility  is  also  countenanced  by 
those  Scriptures  which  speak  of  the  Second  Adam  or 
9 


130         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

regenerate  humanity ;  of  Christ  representing  man  in  the 
New  Testament  as  Adam  represented  him  in  the  Old 
Testament ;  of  the  new  man  in  Christ  as  fulfilling  the 
image  of  his  Creator;  of  his  regeneration  as  completed 
in  the  resurrection ;  of  nature  as  sharing  in  the  resur- 
rection, supplanting  the  thorn  with  the  rose,  causing  the 
wilderness  to  bud  and  bloom,  and  at  length  appearing 
as  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness.  And 
when  we  bring  together  these  two  notions  of  human- 
ity as  corrupted  and  as  perfected,  we  shall  hear  the 
voice  of  science  echoing  the  words  of  scripture  as  re- 
peated in  the  solemn  Office  of  Burial :  "  As  in  Adam  all 
die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  The  first  man 
is  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord 
from  heaven.  And  as  we  have  formed  the  image  of  the 
earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenl}-. 
There  are  also  celestial  bodies  and  bodies  terrestrial ; 
but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the 
terrestrial  is  another.  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun 
and  another  glory  of  the  moon  and  another  glory  of  the 
stars ;  for  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory." 

Anthropology  and  Angelology, 

The  whole  problem  of  anthropology,  as  now  set  before 
us,  is  plainly  involved  in  the  larger  problem  of  astron- 
omy and  geology.  Since  man  is  physically  connected 
with  the  earth,  and  the  earth  is  physically  connected 
with  the  sun  and  the  stars,  he  cannot  but  be  included 
in  their  development  and  somehow  share  in  their  glory. 
And  this  vital  connection,  though  unseen,  is  deep  laid 
in  Scripture  as  well  as  in  Nature.  It  has  been  recog- 
nized by  fanciful  writers  who  are  fain  to  associate  an- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY        131 

thropology  with  angelology  or  the  revealed  doctrine  of 
angels.  Accepting  a  scientific  theory  before  referred  to 
they  have  imagined  Pre- Adamite  races  of  fallen  angels 
dwelling  in  Central  America  unknown  ages  ago ;  have 
traced  their  diabolical  reign  in  the  heathen  religions 
of  the  long  Adamite  period  ;  and  have  anticipated  a 
Post-Adamite  race  of  glorified  men  and  angels  mingling 
together  on  the  scene  of  the  new  heaven  and  earth. 
Whatever  we  may  tliink  of  such  speculations,  it  is 
undeniable  that  the  Scriptures  do  afford  hints  and 
glimpses  of  a  commerce  between  celestial  and  terres- 
trial races.  We  look  backward  to  the  new-made  earth 
and  man,  and  we  hear  the  morning  stars  singing  to- 
gether and  the  Sons  of  God  shouting  for  joy.  We  look 
upward  from  the  cradle  of  the  new-born  God  on  earth, 
and  we  hear  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  singing 
glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  and  we  look  onward  to 
the  renewed  man  and  earth  of  the  apocalypse,  and  we 
liear  a  new  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb  ascending 
from  every  kindred  and  people  and  tongue  under  the 
whole  heaven. 


Miracles  of  Anthropology. 

We  have  still  to  consider  the  religious  evidence 
afforded  by  modern  marvels  of  anthropology  as  com- 
pared with  the  ancient  miracles  w^rought  within  its 
province.  Mere  exegetical  questions  concerning  them 
need  not  now  be  discussed,  and  it  w^ill  suffice  to  cite 
but  a  few  of  them.  Let  the  ark  of  Noah  have  all  the 
living  freight  that  ever  was  imagined,  and  it  would  not 
exceed  the  floating  hotels  upon  our  oceans.  Let  the 
tower  of  Babel  rise  through  all  the  stories  that  have 


132  EVIDENCES   OF  REVEALED  RELIQTON 

been  depicted,  and  it  would  bo  over- topped  by  some 
lieaven-defying  structures  in  our  cities.  If  Jonah  lived 
three  days  in  the  Avhale's  belly,  yet  it  would  be  no  more 
incredible,  a  priori,  than  the  life  of  every  unborn  infant, 
and  geologists  can  tell  us  of  ancient  sea-monsters  beside 
which  the  largest  Mediterranean  fish  would  be  a  min- 
now. If  Balaam's  ass  spoke,  yet  other  animals  are  now 
known  to  speak,  and  some  linguists  would  argue  that 
all  speech  is  a  developed  animal  function.  The  confu- 
sion of  tongues  at  Babel  and  their  miraculous  fusion  at 
Pentecost  are  no  more  astonishing  than  some  linguistic 
phenomena  of  our  own  time.  The  miracles  of  healing 
under  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  matched  by  the 
wonders  of  surgery,  vaccination,  and  chloroform.  Grant- 
ed that  you  do  not  understand  the  divine  method  of 
performing  these  miracles,  no  more  does  a  savage  or 
a  child  understand  your  methods  of  curative  skill.  But 
what  you  can  understand  is  the  divine  motive  in  these 
miracles,  especially  as  explained  in  some  cases  by  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles.  In  the  story  of  Jonah  you  can 
find  universal  lessons  of  humanity,  duty,  and  faith.  In 
the  Ass  of  Balaam,  in  the  ark  of  Noah,  and  the  Tower 
of  Babel  you  can  discern  landmarks  in  the  divine  proc- 
ess of  selecting  and  perfecting  the  high  religious  races 
from  which  you  are  sprung.  In  the  Pentecostal  gift  of 
tongues  you  can  find  a  symbol  and  a  pledge  of  the  fut- 
ure unity  of  churches  and  nations.  In  the  healing  of 
the  sick  and  lame  and  blind  and  deaf  and  imbecile  and 
insane  you  can  see  the  source  and  sanction  of  the  great 
philanthropies  which  distinguish  our  civilization.  In 
all  the  humane  miracles  of  our  Lord  you  can  behold 
displays  of  divine  truth  and  love  which  have  long  since 
caused  the  magic  and   thaumaturgy  of   other  ancient 


Tllb]  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       133 

nations  to  fade  away  as  forgotten  dreams  in  the  ciiiid- 
liood  of  the  race. 

Difficulties  of  Evolutionism, 

It  is  in  anthropology  as  a  region  of  human  interests 
and  passions  that  the  most  determined  stand  is  taken 
against  the  advancing  theory  of  evohition.  In  astron- 
omy and  geology  as  regions  of  mechanical  force  and 
organical  life  it  has  been  comparatively  easy  to  accept 
the  theory,  but  it  is  thought  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of 
man  to  admit  his  animal  origin  and  contrary  to  Script- 
ure to  conceive  of  the  divine  image  as  impressed  upon 
him  by  other  than  a  single  act,  sudden  and  miraculous. 
The  question  should  be  approached  with  caution  and 
yet  with  candor.  Without  raising  difficulties  before 
they  meet  us,  or  making  concessions  before  they  are 
needed,  we  shall  find  it  wise  to  forecast  the  possible 
course  of  opinion  and  be  prepared  for  every  contin- 
gency. In  spite  of  instinctive  and  dogmatic  prejudice 
it  may  yet  be  shown  that  the  evolution  of  the  human 
from  the  anthropoid  species  during  the  prehistoric 
period  is  not  necessarily  inconsistent  with  the  biblical 
picture  of  paradisaic  man  as  formed  out  of  the  ground 
in  connection  with  the  animals ;  nor  would  his  continued 
evolution  during  the  historic  period  toward  the  divine 
image,  individually  and  socially,  be  inconsistent  with 
the  doctrinal  conception  of  universal  man  as  originally 
corrupted  through  satanic  cunning  and  as  still  perma- 
nently depraved  but  for  the  uplifting  power  of  divine 
grace.  It  should  be  remembered  tliat  the  whole  human 
evolution  outside  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  history 
is  at  its  best  brilliant  but  abortive,  while  inside  of  that 
history,  under  supernatural  guidance,  it  has  been  stead- 


13i         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

ily  approximating  the  highest  ideals  of  religion  and 
virtue.  The  most  advanced  evolutionism  is  thus  recon- 
cilable with  the  most  advanced  Christianity,  and  we 
may  therefore  serve  notice  on  our  evolutionary  friends 
that  when  they  have  reached  the  utmost  goal  of  their 
researches  they  will  find  us  there  to  welcome  them  with 
the  Bible  in  our  hands.  Meanwhile  we  bid  them  god- 
speed in  their  scientific  labors,  whatever  be  the  issue. 

Tlte  Problem  of  Physical  Evil. 

Anthropology  also  brings  with  it  a  peculiar  difficulty 
of  faith  in  reconciling  the  divine  benevolence  wdth  the 
occurrence  of  physical  pain  and  death  throughout  the 
animate  creation.  The  old  unscientific  orthodoxy  ac- 
cepted such  evils  as  expressions  of  vengeance  for  sin 
and  remote  eiffects  of  the  fall  of  man.  In  this  spirit 
Milton  depicts  a  physical  crisis  at  the  moment  when 
Eve  readied  forth  her  hand  to  the  forbidden  fruit  and 

*  * .     .     .     Nature,  sighing  through  her  seats, 
Gave  signs  of  woe  that  all  was  lost. ' ' 

Thereafter  the  seasons  were  deranged ;  beasts  and  birds 
became  ferocious  and  carnivorous ;  and  disease  and 
death  reigned  throughout  the  living  world.  Science, 
however,  has  dispelled  somewhat  of  this  gloomy  illu- 
sion, not  only  by  proving  that  animal  pain  and  death 
existed  long  before  the  appearance  of  man,  but  that 
they  are  themselves  inherent  in  physiological  laws  and 
the  inevitable  issue  of  natural  processes.  On  this  sci- 
entific basis  Paley  has  vindicated  the  divine  benevo- 
lence against  the  apparent  malevolence  of  poisonous 
plants  and  venomous  animals  by  showing  that  they  in- 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       135 

cidentally  serve  some  good  purposes  and  are  so  compen- 
sated and  alleviated  in  the  general  economy  of  living 
nature  that  it  is  still  ever  true  that  "The  tender  mercies 
of  the  Lord  are  over  all  His  works." 

But  in  the  inner  consciousness  of  man  there  is  a  pro- 
found connection  between  sin  and  spiritual  death  which 
distinguishes  him  from  the  brutes;  and  if  he  is  more 
acutely  sensitive  than  they,  he  also  has  rational  and 
moral  resources  which  they  do  not  possess  for  coping 
with  physical  evils.  To  pursue  the  argument  in  this  di- 
rection we  should  need  to  enter  those  higher  mental  and 
moral  sciences  which  as  yet  have  not  come  within  our 
view,  and  we  must  therefore  limit  the  argument  to  man  as 
a  purely  sentient  being  endowed  with  an  aesthetic  faculty 
which  is  exquisitely  adjusted  to  the  impressions  of  ex- 
ternal nature  through  the  senses  and  the  imagination.     ^ 

^Esthetic  Impressions  of  Nature  upon  Man. 

It  is  but  a  low,  narrow  view  of  the  material  creation 
which  would  make  human  utility  its  sole  object  or  con- 
fine its  benevolent  design  to  the  mere  supply  of  animal 
wants.  Of  what  use  to  man  are  the  flowers  that  bloom 
on  Alpine  heights,  or  the  microscopic  crystals  which  melt 
away  in  the  snow,  or  the  telescopic  wonders  which  are 
hidden  in  the  f ar-oft*  stars  of  heaven  ?  The  beautiful  has 
been  strewn  with  lavish  hand  throughout  the  universe 
where  there  can  be  no  hint  or  thought  of  the  useful. 
"  The  Lord  rejoiceth  in  his  works,"  though  neither  man 
nor  angel  behold  them.  Like  some  perfect  artist  who 
has  wrought  the  most  invisible  details  of  his  work  with 
exquisite  finish  and  feeling,  He  stayed  His  creative  hand 
only  when  His  ideal  was  fully  satisfied  :   "  And  God  saw 


136         EVIDENUEti  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

everything  that  He  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very 
ixood."  And  He  woukl  have  His  human  creatures  to 
share  in  His  joy  of  creation.  Not  only  has  He  given 
them  creative  imagination,  but  He  has  adapted  the  uni- 
verse around  them  to  their  versatile  fancy  with  endless 
variety  and  ceaseless  vicissitude.  The  three  physical 
sciences  which  we  have  reviewed  conspire  to  show  how 
"  He  hath  made  everything  beautiful  in  its  time." 

Tlie  Scene  of  Human  Life. 

Behold  in  the  light  of  astronomy  how  beautiful  is  the 
scene  of  human  life !  This  goodly  fabric  of  heaven  and 
earth,  with  its  alternate  night  and  day  and  returning 
summer  and  winter,  occasioned  by  the  mutations  of  the 
solar  system,  has  been  fitted  up  as  a  theatre  of  man's 
action,  for  his  rational  amusement  no  less  than  for  his 
physical  maintenance.  It  has  indeed  grown  old  and 
familiar,  and  in  this  dull  workaday  Avorld  of  ours  may 
long  since  have  lost  that  subtle  charm  which  the  poet 
so  feelingly  laments — 

"  There  was  a  time  when  meadow,  grove,  and  stream, 
The  earth  and  every  common  sight, 
To  me  did  seem 
Apparell'd  in  celestial  light, 
The  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream. 
It  is  not  now  as  it  hath  been  of  yore; 
Turn  wheresoe'er  I  may, 
By  night  or  day, 
The  things  which  I  have  seen  I  now  can  see  no  more. " 

And  yet  might  we  recall  such  early  impressions  or 
could  the  face  of  nature  around  us  be  changed,  how 
different  would  be  its  effect  upon  our  lesthetic  sense ! 


THE  EVIDENCE  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       137 

Were  we  placed  upon  a  sandy  desert  under  a  cloudless 
summer,  or  on  a  snowy  waste  beneath  a  sunless  winter, 
how  insupportable  would  be  the  monotony  of  life  !  We 
forget  that  it  is  by  the  orderly  revolution  of  the  earth 
upon  its  axis  and  in  its  orbit  that  the  spectacle  of 
the  world  becomes  for  our  entertainment  a  magnificent 
stage  with  its  scenery  shifting  day  after  day,  from  sun- 
rise to  sunset,  through  the  blue  sky  of  noon  and  the 
starry  night,  and  year  after  year  from  the  verdure  of 
Spring  to  the  snows  of  Winter,  through  the  sheen  of 
Summer  and  the  splendor  of  Autumn. 

The  Course  of  Hutnan  Life, 

Behold  also  in  the  light  of  geology  how  beautiful  is 
the  course  of  human  life  !  These  successive  periods  of 
Childhood,  Youth,  Manhood,  and  Age,  as  predeter- 
mined by  the  organic  conditions  of  our  planet,  are  like 
so  many  acts  of  the  great  drama  in  which  man  as  the 
actor  is  ever  changing  with  the  changing  scene.  The 
decline  of  their  impressiveness  through  familiarity  and 
custom  is  depicted  by  the  same  great  poet  as  in  myth- 
ical vision, 

*'  Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy, 
Shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close 

Upon  the  growing  boy, 
But  he  beholds  the  light  and  whence  it  flows, 

He  sees  it  in  his  joy; 
The  Youth — who  daily  farther  from  the  East 
Must  travel — still  is  Nature's  Priest, 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 

Is  on  his  way  attended. 
At  length  the  Man  perceives  it  die  away 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day. " 


1^8         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

But  as  the  dawn  will  returu  after  the  day  has  faded,  and 
the  Spring  will  follow  the  snows  of  Winter,  so  the  parent 
is  renewed  in  the  Child,  and  the  Man  lives  again  in  the 
boy.  Were  it  otherwise,  could  eager  youth  at  once 
seize  the  sceptre  of  manhood,  or  active  manhood  at  once 
break  down  in  childishness,  how  would  the  develop- 
ment of  human  nature  be  marred  and  blighted  !  How 
dreary  would  life  be  without  the  brilliant  hopes  of  youth 
and  the  tranquil  memories  of  age  !  The  natural  seasons 
of  growth  and  decay  in  man,  like  those  in  nature,  come 
and  go,  each  in  its  own  order  and  with  its  own  charm. 

The  Story  of  Human  Life. 

Behold  at  length  in  the  light  of  anthropology  how 

beautiful  is  the  whole  story  of  human  life.     The  varied 

experiences,  of  pain  and  pleasure,  of  care  and  mirth, 

joy  and  sorrow,  summed  up  in  the  one  great  contrast 

of   life    and   death,   and   so   largely   modified    by   our 

physical    organism    and    environment,  these   form   the 

dramatic  interest  of  the  checkered  tale  which  unfolds 

through  summer  and   Avinter,   from    childhood  to  age. 

That  we  do  not  appreciate  its  full  attractiveness  and 

realize  how  all  things  are  working  together  for  our  good 

is  because  we  cannot  always  see  the  grandeur  of  the  plot 

but  lose  ourselves  in  its  bewildering  details.     Yet  as  wo 

i  could  not  have  the  day  without  night  nor   the  summer 

!  without  winter,  and  as  we  need  youth  to  fit  us  for  age, 

\  so  we  may  not  have  true  joy  without  sorrow,  and  need 

;even  death  rightly  to  appreciate  immortal  life.     Did  we 

ever  live  in  sympathetic  unison  with  man  and  nature, 

the  whole  manifold  spectacle  of  the  world  around  us, 

whether  in  sunshine  or  shadow,  would  be  suffused  with 


THE  EVIDBNGB  FROM  ANTHROPOLOGY       139 

spiritual  interest  and  feeling  like  that  expressed  for  us 
by  our  great  Christian  poet : 


Thanks  to  the  human  heart,  by  which  we  live, 
Thanks  to  its  tenderness,  its  joys  and  fears, 

To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  blow$  can  give 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears.' 


Learn,  then,  O  querulous  man,  that  it  is  thy  right  and 
thy  duty  to  be  happy.  Give  glory  to  the  Creator  while 
enjoying  the  beauty  of  His  creation. 


THE  END  OF  THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTURES. 


YI 

BISHOP    BUTLER'S    CONTRIBUTION    TO    THE    CHRISTIAN 
EVIDENCES 

The  "Analogy"  of  Bishop  Butler  was  given  to  the 
world  in  the  year  1736.  In  the  same  year  of  grace  was 
born  the  orator,  statesman,  and  first  governor  of  A^irginia, 
Patrick  Henry,  who  in  mature  life  made  the  Analogy  his 
serious  study,  published  an  edition  of  it,  and  bequeathed 
it  to  his  countrymen  as  a  cure  for  the  scepticism  which 
had  been  coming  in  with  the  French  Alliance  during  the 
Revolution.  It  is  probable  that  this  was  the  first  Amer- 
ican issue  of  the  work.  A  hundred  years  have  passed, 
and  another  great  churchman  and  statesman,  an  English 
kinsman  of  Henry,  Mr.  Gladstone,  has  also  published 
the  Analogy,  and  stood  forth  as  its  champion  among  the 
leading  thinkers  of  the  age.  The  fresh  interest  thus 
aroused  in  Butler's  writings  would  seem  to  make  this 
juncture  a  fitting  time  in  which  to  renew  our  estimate 
of  his  contribution  to  the  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

Bishop  Butler  has  strong  claims  upon  American 
clmrchmen  of  all  classes.  In  advance  of  modern  schools 
of  churchmanship,  he  illustrated  much  that  was  best 
in  each  of  them.  First  of  all,  he  was  an  evangelical 
churchman.  Bred  a  Presbyterian  non-conformist,  he 
never  lost  that  type  of  doctrinal  belief  which  is  common 
to  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Articles  of  Relig- 
ion and  expressed  in  portions  of  the  Dail}'  and  Com- 

140 


BTSHOP  BUTLER  ON  fiCIENTIFIO  EVIDENCES     141 

munion  offices.  It  underlies  and  pervades  his  whole 
argument,  especially  in  the  chapters  on  the  "  Opinion  of 
Necessity  "  and  the  "  Appointment  of  a  Mediator."  An 
evangelical,  yet  he  was  also  a  Catholic  churchman.  A 
century  before  the  appearance  of  the  Oxford  tracts  and 
the  Christian  Year,  he  enunciated  some  of  the  leading 
principles  of  those  epoch-making  works.  On  both  ra- 
tional and  historic  grounds  he  argued  that  the  visible 
Church  was  essential  to  the  perpetuation  of  true  Chris- 
tianity. In  his  episcopal  charge  on  the  Importance  of 
External  Religion  he  urged  the  more  frequent  use  of 
the  daily  offices  and  the  sacraments  as  means  of  piety. 
By  devoutly  studying  the  lives  of  the  saints  and  other 
books  of  mystical  devotion,  by  decorating  his  chapel  with 
stained  glass  windows  imported  from  Italy,  popularly 
supposed  to  have  been  presented  by  the  Pope,  and 
especially  by  erecting  a  white  marble  cross  over  the 
communion  table,  he  incurred  the  most  bitter  persecu- 
tion as  a  suspected  revert  to  Romanism.  A  Catholic 
among  Evangelicals  and  an  Evangelical  among  Catho- 
lics, he  was  still  a  liberal  churchman.  While  bowing  to 
the  authority  of  Scripture,  he  declared  he  would  not 
vilify  reason,  which  is  our  only  faculty  for  judging  of 
anything,  even  revelation  itself.  When  invited  to  the 
throne  of  the  Primacy  of  all  England,  so  disheartened 
was  he  by  the  ecclesiastical  abuses  about  him,  he  said 
it  was  too  late  for  him  to  "try  to  support  a  falling 
church,"  and  looked  hopefully  away  to  another  scene 
where  it  might  flourish  wdthout  the  fetters  of  an  estab- 
lishment and  the  scandal  of  dissent.  In  his  plan  for 
strengthening  and  extending  the  church  of  England  in 
the  American  Colonies  he  broached  some  of  the  very 
principles  which  have  been  reaped  as  the  fruits  of  our 


142         EVIDENCES  OF  nEVEALED  RELIGION 

political  Revolution,  such  as  the  equality  of  denomina- 
tious,  the  rights  of  the  laity,  the  independence  of  the 
Church,  the  extension  of  the  episcopate.  If  Berkeley 
could  foresee  in  poetic  fancy  the  *'  westward  course  of 
empire,"  it  was  Butler  who  had  that  glowing  vision  of 
ecclesiastical  advancement  Avhich  is  now  passing  before 
our  eyes.  More  than  any  other  English  prelate,  if  I 
mistake  not,  he  may  be  revered  as  the  prophet  and 
progenitor  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States.'-' 

But  it  is  not  of  Butler  as  a  churchman  that  I  am  here 
to  speak.  Nor  is  this  his  only  distinction.  It  is  as  a 
defender  of  the  faith,  as  the  greatest  of  Christian  apolo- 
getes,  that  he  has  received  the  homage  of  English  Chris- 
tendom. All  churches  and  denominations  are  repre- 
sented in  the  tribute.  Bishop  Fitzgerald,  of  the  Church 
of  England,  the  most  accomplished  editor  of  his  work, 
has  characterized  it  as  "  so  original  in  its  design,  so 
perfect  in  its  method,  so  profoimd  and  yet  so  practical 
in  its  reasoning,  so  earnest  and  yet  so  calm  in  its  tone, 
so  combining  decision  without  dogmatism  and  caution 
without  timidity,  as  to  be  justly  deemed  the  masterpiece 
of  British  theology."  Dr.  Chalmers,  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  could  acknowledge  himself  more  indebted  to 
the  Analogy  than  to  anything  else  in  the  whole  range  of 
our  extant  authorship.  President  Wayland,  of  the  Bap- 
tists, has  made  a  similar  acknowledgment  with  refer- 
ence to  his  own  ethical  writings.  President  Emory,  of 
the  Methodists,  has  compared  the  position  of  Butler 
in  divinity  to  that  of  Bacon  in  philosophy.  Among  lay 
scholars,  Sir  James  Mcintosh  pronounced  it  "  the  most 

*  Life  of  Butler  prefaced  to  the  Analogy  by  Bishop  Fitzgerald,  pp. 
59-Gl. 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     143 

original  and  profound  work  extant  in  any  language, 
upon  the  philosophy  of  religion."  Lord  Brougham  de- 
clared it  to  be  "  the  most  argumentative  and  philosoph- 
ical defence  of  Christianity  ever  offered  to  the  world." 
And  the  Duke  of  Argyll  has  termed  it  "  an  argument 
the  greatest  in  the  whole  range  of  Christian  philosoj)hy, 
in  its  ramifications  as  infinite  as  the  appearance  of 
variet}^,  and  as  pervading  as  the  sense  of  oneness,  in  the 
universe  of  God."  It  may  be  doubted  if  any  modern 
writer  has  been  so  generally  accepted  as  an  exponent 
of  English  thinking  upon  religious  questions,  or  has 
exerted  such  an  influence,  directly  and  indirectly,  in 
moulding  its  tendencies  and  products. 

Tlte  Personality  of  Butler, 

In  order  to  fully  appreciate  Butler  as  a  philosophical 
apologete,  we  need  to  begin  by  recalling  briefly  his  per- 
sonality, the  man  himself.  At  first  sight  this  might  ap- 
pear unimportant.  The  principle  that  the  character  of 
a  writer  will  be  reflected  in  his  writings  does  not  seem 
to  apply.  If  ever  an  author  succeeded  in  hiding  him- 
self behind  his  subject,  and  leaving  us  occupied  with  the 
bare  logical  process  of  thought  itself,  it  was  the  author 
of  the  Analogy.  In  the  dry  light  of  his  intelligence 
there  is  not  a  tinge  of  idiosyncrasy  or  egotism.  The 
first  personal  pronoun,  when  used,  brings  with  it  nothing 
•whatever  of  the  disturbing  influence  of  the  personal 
equation.  Had  some  Raphael  alighted  upon  our  orb, 
as  in  Milton's  Paradise,  his  high  discourse  would  scarcely 
have  seemed  more  free  from  the  passions  and  infirmities 
of  mortals.  This  superficial  judgment,  however,  disap- 
pears on  connecting  Butler's  work  with  his  life  aud  his 


144         EVIDENCES  OF  UEVEALED  RELIGION 

character.  We  can  see  that  the  young  student  in  the 
Presbyterian  Academy  at  Tewkesbury,  while  exchang- 
ing letters  with  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke  on  his  "Demonstra- 
tion of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God,"  is  already  in 
training  as  an  apologete.  When  at  Oxford,  he  was  not 
only  gaining  all  needed  learning  for  his  future  task,  but 
was  entering  the  way  of  needed  preferment,  through  his 
influential  friendships  with  Talbot,  who  procured  for 
him  from  his  uncle,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  post  of 
preacher  at  the  Rolls  in  London  ;  and  with  Seeker, 
afterward  Bishop  and  Archbishop,  who  befriended  him 
throughout  life,  and  defended  his  memory  after  death. 
In  his  "  Sermons,"  Avhich  he  preached  before  the  legal 
audience  of  the  Rolls  Chapel,  he  was  enunciating  those 
principles  of  ethics  which  were  to  be  made  the  founda- 
tion of  his  whole  apologetic.  Afterward,  as  rector  of 
Stanhope,  in  the  seclusion  of  a  rural  parish,  with  patient 
toil  he  slowly  built  up,  like  a  coral  reef,  that  argument 
which  contains  the  closely  packed  results  of  twenty 
years'  hard  thinking  on  the  problems  of  philosophy  and 
religion.  Meanwhile,  the  world  had  forgotten  him,  and 
when  Queen  Caroline  asked  if  Butler  was  dead,  a  shrewd 
courtier  replied,  "Not  dead,  but  buried."  He  was  at 
once  drawn  forth  from  that  retirement.  As  Clerk  of  the 
Closet  to  the  Queen,  as  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  as  Bishop  of 
Bristol,  and  at  length  as  promoted  to  the  princely  See 
of  Durham,  he  acquired  that  celebrity  and  influence 
without  which  his  great  work  might  have  dropped  back 
again  into  obscurity  and  oblivion. 

During  all  this  somewhat  ordinary  career  of  student, 
preacher,  thinker,  divine,  and  bishop,  his  character  was 
unfolding  those  sterling  traits  which,  in  spite  of  his 
studied  self-effacement,  may  be  discerned  on  every  page ; 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     145 

that  ardent  love  of  truth,  the  research  for  which  he  said 
he  had  designed  to  be  the  chief  business  of  his  life ; 
that  candor  Avitli  wliich  he  stated  the  whole  truth  as  he 
knew  and  believed  it,  without  over-statement  or  under- 
statement ;  that  courage  with  which  he  faced  the  most 
adverse  facts  and  arguments  and  accepted  the  most 
perilous  inferences  ;  that  strict  adherence  to  his  own 
high  ideals  of  right  and  reason  from  which  he  never 
swerved ;  as  well  as  that  supreme  desire  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  good  of  manlvind  which  is  ever}' where  felt 
without  being  expressed.  A  glance  is  enough  to  show 
us  that  such  a  work  could  only  have  been  written  by 
such  a  man. 

The  Epoch  of  Butler. 

There  is  also  a  preliminary  need  to  estimate  Butler 
in  the  light  of  his  epoch,  of  the  age  in  wliich  he  lived. 
A  hasty  reader  of  his  book  would  think  otherwise.  For 
anything  that  appears  on  the  surface  it  might  have  been 
written  indiiferentl}-  in  the  fifteenth  century  or  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  contains  no  allusion  to  current 
events  and  discussions.  With  the  exception  of  two 
marginal  references  to  Locke  and  to  Shaftesbury,  not 
a  single  English  author  is  named.  The  argument  pro- 
ceeds as  abstractly  as  the  Differential  Calculus,  and 
every  objection  is  examined  as  imperturbably  as  if  it 
were  a  meteorolite  that  had  fallen  from  some  remote 
region  of  space.  And  3'et,  no  writer  was  ever  in  so 
close  vital  contact  witli  his  whole  literar}''  environment, 
and  no  work  more  alive  with  the  spirit  of  the  age 
in  which  it  was  produced.  To  see  this  we  have  bat  to 
place  him  in  his  true  historic  setting. 

Look  first  at  the  religious  crisis  which  had  been 
10 


140         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

reached  in  Butler's  day.  It  was  but  fifty  years  since  the 
restoration  of  the  monarchy  and  the  act  of  uniformity. 
The  profligate  Charles  had  been  succeeded  b}^  the  Jes- 
uitical James  and  then  by  the  Calvinistic  William  of 
Orange.  Presbytery  had  been  re-established  in  Scot- 
land alongside  of  prelacy  in  England.  Puritanism  had 
fled  to  the  wilds  of  America.  That  Presbyterianism 
which  had  once  been  the  pride  of  the  Universities,  a 
power  in  the  London  pulpit,  and  a  stately  figure  in  the 
manor-houses  of  Yorkshire,  was  now  languishing  into 
Unitarianism  under  the  ban  of  dissent.  The  establish- 
ment, drained  of  spiritual  life,  was  thronged  with  place- 
hunters  and  time-servers.  The  superficial  type  of 
Christianity  which  remained  was  correct  and  comfort- 
able. A  genteel  Deism,  which  accepted  so  much  of 
religion  as  it  had  in  common  with  natural  religion,  was 
leavening  the  clergy  as  well  as  the  aristocracy.  The  old 
faith,  like  an  old  fashion-plate,  had  become  pompous, 
pedantic,  and  grotesque.  Eidicule  was  made  the  test  of 
truth,  and  the  day  for  serious  argument  seemed  to  have 
gone  by.  It  was  then  that  Butler,  somewhat  like  an 
unbidden  spectre  at  a  revel,  opened  his  treatise  in  these 
words :  "  It  is  come,  I  know  not  how,  to  be  taken  for 
granted  by  many  persons,  that  Christianity  is  not  so 
much  as  a  subject  of  inquiry ;  but  that  it  is,  now  at 
length,  discovered  to  be  fictitious.  And  accordingly 
they  treat  it,  as  if,  in  the  present  age,  this  were  an 
agreed  point  among  all  people  of  discernment;  and 
nothing  remains  but  to  set  it  up  as  a  principal  sub- 
ject of  mirth  and  ridicule,  as  it  were,  by  way  of  re- 
prisals for  having  so  long  interrupted  the  pleasures  of 
the  world." 

Look  also  at  some  of  the  principal  writers  who  pre- 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCTENTIFir  EVIDENCES^     U7 

ceded  and  surrounded  him  on  either  side  at  this  crisis. 
On  the  side  of  Deism  were  marshalled  the  opponents  of 
revealed  religion.  Nearly  a  centur}^  before,  Herbert  of 
Cherbm\y,  the  father  of  English  Deism,  in  his  treatise 
on  "Truth  as  distinguished  from  Revelation,"  had  main- 
tained natural  religion,  the  Religion  of  tlie  Laity  and  of 
the  Gentiles,  to  be  the  one  sufficient  and  absolute  relig- 
ion. Charles  Blount,  in  his  "Life  of  Apollonius,"  a 
wonder-worker  of  Tyanna,  had  exalted  Pagan  feats  of 
magic  into  comparison  Avith  the  Christian  miracles. 
Woolston  had  delineated  his  so-called  "  Keligion  of 
Nature"  as  found  in  the  writings  of  Greek  philosophers 
and  Roman  moralists  rather  than  in  the  teachings  of 
projDhets  and  apostles.  And  then  came  a  direct  assault 
upon  revealed  religion.  Toland,  in  his  "Christianity 
not  Mysterious,"  argued  that  revealed  truths  are  neither 
against  reason  nor  above  reason,  but  must  be  freed  from 
everything  contradictory  and  unintelligible.  Tindal,  in 
his  "  Christianity  as  Old  as  the  Creation,"  held  that  the 
natural  religion  of  mankind  neither  admitted  nor  re- 
quired an  external  revelation,  and  that  the  pretended 
Jewish  and  Christian  revelations  are  defective  in  their 
external  evidences  and  in  their  internal  teachings.  Col- 
lins, the  first  of  the  self-styled  free-thinkers,  attacked 
the  prophetical  evidence  ;  and  Morgan,  as  a  moral  phi- 
losopher, attacked  the  internal  evidence.  At  length  the 
assault  grew  desperate  and  undisguised.  The  polished 
Shaftesbury  was  sneering  at  the  humbling  doctrines  and 
lowly  graces  of  the  Christian  disciple.  The  truculent 
Bolingbroke  was  scoffing  at  the  failings  of  Old  Tes- 
tament saints  and  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  half-crazed  Woolston  was  flinging  profane  jests  at 
Christian   miracles   and   mysteries.      And    the    vulgar 


148.        EVTDEXrES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

Chubb,  over  his  candle-moulds,  was  railing  at  the  Apos- 
tles as  liars  and  the  Gospel  as  a  forgery. 

On  the  side  of  Christianity,  meanwhile,  were  arrayed 
the  opponents  of  mere  natural  religion.  During  the 
early  stage  of  the  contest,  Ealph  Cudworth,  in  his  "In- 
tellectual System  of  the  Universe,"  had  collected  with 
prodigious  learning  the  evidences  of  revealed  religion  in 
all  Pagan  literature  and  philosophy.  Theophilus  Gale, 
in  his  "  Court  of  the  Gentiles,"  had  traced  back  all 
Greek  and  Roman  religion  to  a  primitive  revelation  as 
mere  borrowed  light  from  that  sacred  hre.  Henry 
More  had  dreamed  of  a  Platonic  Trinity  born  of  the 
marriage  of  Greek  Metaphysics  with  the  divinity  of 
St.  John.  But  soon  there  was  need  of  a  vigorous  de- 
fence. Leslie,  in  order  to  meet  Herbert  and  Blount, 
produced  his  famous  "Short  and  Easy  Method  with 
the  Deist,"  in  which  he  exhibited  Christianity  as  the 
one  true  religion,  and  Judaism,  Paganism,  and  Moham- 
medanism, all  mere  natural  religions,  as  counterfeits  and 
impostures.  Toland  was  answered  by  the  philosopher 
Locke  and  by  Archbishop  Browne.  Conybeare,  as  the 
antagonist  of  Tindal,  maintained,  in  his  "  Defence  of 
Revealed  Religion,"  the  insufficiency  of  natural  re- 
ligion, the  necessity  of  a  revelation,  and  the  validity  of 
its  evidences.  "While  Chandler  was  defending  the  pro- 
phetical evidence  against  Collins,  and  Chapman  was 
defending  the  internal  evidence  against  Morgan,  Leland, 
in  his  "  View  of  the  Deistical  Writers,"  was  massing  to- 
gether all  the  Christian  evidences  as  a  rampart  of  the 
faith.  At  last,  there  w^as  a  furious  sally  and  onset  upon 
the  assailants.  The  pugnacious  Warburton,  more  than 
a  match  for  Boliugbroke  in  savage  invective,  charged 
into  the  very  camp  of  the  Deists  with  that  arguvientum 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     149 

ad  liomimm,  his  "Divine  Legation  of  Moses,"  and  routed 
them  on  their  own  ground.  The  erudite  Bentley,  hav- 
ing caught  Collins  tripping  in  his  scholarship,  demol- 
ished him  with  blows  of  ponderous  learning.  And  the 
lawyer-like  Sherlock,  with  more  ingenuity  than  rever- 
ence, in  his  "  Trial  of  the  Witnesses,"  cited  the  Apostles 
to  an  imaginary  session  of  the  Inn-Court,  as  if  to  convict 
Woolston  and  Chubb  of  libel  and  perjury. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  this  heated  debate  that  Butler 
appeared,  not  as  another  advocate,  but  as  the  presiding 
judge,  after  the  combatants  had  reached  the  extremes 
of  controversy.  Noticing  them  without  naming  them, 
avoiding  alike  the  personality  of  praise  or  invective,  now 
accepting  the  premises  of  a  deist,  then  rejecting  the 
reasonings  of  an  apologist,  carefully  weighing  every  ar- 
gument, he  at  length  summed  up  the  whole  discussion 
in  a  tone  so  judicial  that  it  has  been  mistaken  for  in- 
difference or  weakness.  "  Those  who  believe,"  he  said, 
"  will  here  find  the  scheme  of  Christianity  cleared  of 
objections  and  the  evidence  of  it  in  a  peculiar  manner 
strengthened :  those  who  do  not  believe  will  at  least  be 
shown  the  absurdity  of  all  attempts  to  prove  Christian- 
ity false,  the  plain  undoubted  credibility  of  it ;  and,  I 
hope,  a  good  deal  more." 

Such  w^as  the  man  and  such  the  age  which  pro- 
duced the  "  Analogy  of  Religion,  Natural  and  Revealed, 
to  the  Constitution  and  Course  of  Nature."  It  is  the 
mission  of  some  books  to  project  the  issues  of  the  fut- 
ure and  not  merely  to  resume  those  of  the  past.  Had 
Butler's  work  been  of  the  latter  sort,  it  might  to-day  be 
as  dusty  and  -svorm-eaten  as  some  of  the  forgotten  vol- 
umes which  have  just  been  mentioned.  But,  unlike 
them,  it  was  not  only  free  from  everything  personal, 


15U  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

local,  and  transient,  but  contained  truth  for  all  time  as 
"svell  as  for  its  own  time.  Instead  of  remaining  as  a  piece 
of  obsolete  controversy,  interesting  only  to  a  former 
generation,  it  has  passed  into  the  intellectual  life  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  with  ever-widening  influence.  It 
is  true  that  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  in  his  "Bishop  Butler 
ajid  the  Zeitgeist,"  has  argued  that  it  is  quite  behind  the 
philosophic  spirit  of  the  age  ;  but  there  could  be  no 
more  striking  proof  of  its  essential  vitality  than  some 
recent  efforts  to  destroy  it.  After  the  lapse  of  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  it  has  been  exciting  fresh  discus- 
sion and  demanding  readjustment  to  the  highest  and 
best  thinking  of  our  epoch. 

A  history  of  this  criticism  would  be  interesting  and 
instructive.  I  can  only  notice  some  of  the  deficiencies 
^\  hich  have  been  alleged  against  Butler  ;  and  then,  some 
of  his  permanent  contributions  to  apologetic  science. 
I  speak  of  deficiencies  rather  than  of  defects.  The 
former  are  mere  neglects  or  omissions  which  do  not 
impair  the  quality  and  effect  of  a  work  ;  the  latter  are 
blemishes  or  fallacies  which  inhere  in  the  reasoning  and 
mar  and  vitiate  it.  It  will  be  found,  I  think,  that  But- 
ler has  some  deficiencies,  but  only  a  few  defects. 

Lite  rm  'y  Defic  leiic  ies. 

The  literary  deficiencies  which  have  been  alleged  are 
the  first  to  strike  the  reader.  His  style  has  been  much 
criticised.  Bolingbroke  had  his  fling  at  its  obscurity. 
'  She  studies."  lie  -aid  of  Queen  Caroline,  '*  with  mucb 
i<pplicyli«Mi  rlie  AiJiilogy  of  Revealed  Eeligiou  t<>  tlip 
<■ 'oustitoMMii  :Hj<j  «'.>iif^H  ot"  N'Mtui''.  S]ie  undersuanjt 
the  ^vin^.le  itr^umciil  perltctiy.  Lin  J   conoiude^  with   the 


BISHOP  BUTLER   ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     151 

Right  Reverend  Author  that  it  is  uot  so  clear  a  case 
that  there  is  nothing  in  Revealed  Religion.  Such  royal, 
such  lucrative  encouragement,  must  needs  keep  both 
metaphysics  and  the  sublimest  theology  in  credit."  To 
all  which  John  Wesley  incisively  replied,  that  the  Anal- 
ogy was  too  deep  for  the  men  against  Avhom  it  was 
A\ritten. 

Obscurity,  however,  may  be  due  to  defects  of  language 
rather  than  to  profundity  of  thought,  as  ripples  can  hide 
the  bottom  of  the  clearest  lake.  It  is  not  easy  to  de- 
fend Butler's  style  from  such  superficial  blemishes. 
His  English  is  now  somewhat  archaic ;  his  diction  is  at 
times  too  idiomatic  and  harsh,  and  his  sentences  are 
often  long,  involved,  confused,  and  perplexing.  One 
finds  that  he  must  turn  back  and  read  them  again  in 
order  to  take  in  the  full  meaning.  The  constant  effort 
to  understand  him  at  length  becomes  tiresome.  Butler 
himself  seems  to  have  been  made  aware  of  the  difficulty 
of  his  style  and  defends  it  from  the  charge  of  obscurity  : 
"  I  must  take  leave  to  add,  that  those  alone  are  judges 
whether  or  no  and  how  far  this  is  a  fault,  who  are  judges 
whether  or  no  and  how  far  it  might  have  been  avoided 
— those  only  who  will  be  at  the  trouble  to  understand 
what  is  here  said  and  to  see  how  far  the  things  here  in- 
sisted upon  and  not  other  things  might  have  been  put  in 
a  plainer  manner." 

And  it  must  be  granted  that  he  beai'S  well  the  test  to 
which  he  appeals.  Let  anyone  try  to  put  Butler's  ideas 
into  clearer  words  and  he  will  find  it  no  easy  task.  In 
this  respect  he  is  the  despair  of  his  editors  and  com- 
mentators. It  should  be  remembered  thnt  bis  work?^ 
were  oaiefully  revisjed  by  his  friend  Airhbislioj*  Seeker, 
and  it  may  be  added  that  his  letters,  unlike  his  more 


152         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

elaborate  writings,  are  charming  in  their  simplicity  and 
ingenuousness. 

Writers,  who  admit  that  he  is  obscure,  have  explained 
the  defect  in  various  ways.  Mr.  Mark  Pattison  thinks 
it  due  to  the  multiplicity  of  details  which  he  wrought 
into  the  complex  structure  of  his  reasoning  in  his  effort 
after  logical  precision.  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen  would  ex- 
plain this  paradox  by  referring  it  to  the  density  with 
which  he  packed  his  ideas,  as  a  lonely  thinker  using 
phrases  and  arguments  unfamiliar  to  tlie  ordinary 
reader.  The  best  defence  has  been  suggested  by  one  of 
his  most  studious  editors  :  "  There  is  a  rough  like- 
ness," says  Dr.  Steere,  "  between  the  style  of  the  Anal- 
ogy and  that  of  a  legal  document,  and  it  goes  deeper 
than  might  have  been  expected  ;  for  what  makes  a  deed 
obscure  to  the  uninitiated  ?  Chiefly  the  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  framer  to  exclude  all  ambiguity.  It  looks 
like  irony,  but  it  is  true  that  no  written  thing,  Avhen 
examined,  is  clearer  than  a  legal  document,  and  the  ob- 
ject, the  attained  object,  of  all  those  obscure  phrases  is 
to  avoid  the  possibility  of  being  misunderstood.  .  .  . 
Thus  it  is  that  careful  students  of  Butler's  works  gener- 
ally come,  in  the  end,  to  have  a  sort  of  relish  for  his 
peculiar  style." 

When  we  have  maintained  that  Butler  writes  "good 
sinewy  Haxon,"  with  vigor,  simplicity,  accuracy,  pro- 
priety, and  dignity,  we  must  still  admit,  I  think,  that 
there  is  some  remaining  obscurity  in  his  style  which  is 
not  in  his  thought  or  in  his  theme.  "  It  is  an  instance," 
says  Mcintosh,  "  of  the  importance  of  style.  No  think- 
er so  great  was  ever  so  poor  a  writer.  Indeed  the  in- 
genious apologies  which  have  been  lately  attempted  for 
the  defect  amount  to  no  more  than  that  his  power  of 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     153 

tliouglit  was  too  much  for  liis  skill  in  language.  How 
general  must  the  reception  have  been  of  truths  so  cer- 
tain and  momentous ;  with  how  much  more  clearness 
must  the}'  have  appeared  to  his  own  great  understand- 
ing, if  he  had  possessed  the  distinctness  with  which 
Hobbs  enforces  odious  falsehood  on  the  charm  of  that 
transparent  diction  which  clothed  the  unfruitful  para- 
doxes of  Berkeley." 

Butler  has  also  been  charged  with  a  lack  of  imagina- 
tion in  the  treatment  of  his  theme.  He  lends  some 
color  to  the  charge  by  characterizing  the  imagination  as 
"  that  forward  delusive  faculty,  ever  obtruding  beyond 
its  sphere  and  the  author  of  all  error ; "  and  once  he  dis- 
misses a  false  analogy  between  the  decay  of  vegetables 
and  living  creatures,  wdth  the  remark  that  it  is  "  suffi- 
cient to  afford  the  poets  very  apt  illusions  to  the  flowers 
of  the  field."  There  is  in  fact  not  a  single  poetical  quota- 
tion in  his  whole  treatise,  and  only  now  and  then  a  meta- 
phor. He  has  none  of  the  negligent  beauties  of  a  waiter 
to  whom  ornament  comes  unsought  as  the  fruit  of  read- 
ing and  culture.  His  constructive  skill  is  that  of  the 
mere  intellect  rather  than  that  of  the  free  imagination. 

This  absence  of  the  play  of  fancy  will  be  regarded  as 
a  defect  according  to  the  point  of  view.  One  who  w^ould 
like  to  have  his  Euclid  done  into  verse,  or  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  interspersed  Avith  bon-mots  and  epigrams, 
might  wish  that  the  Analogy  had  more  rhetorical  em- 
bellishment. If  Butler's  taste  was  different,  it  w^as  not 
because  he  was  wanting  in  a  sense  of  the  beautiful.  In 
his  Sermons  he  defines  and  vindicates  the  ideas  of  order, 
beauty,  and  harmony  as  consistent  with  virtue  and  re- 
ligion and  a  reflection  of  the  Divine  character  itself. 
And  in  one  of  his  chapters  he  likens  the  conviction  pro- 


154         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

duced  by  the  collected  evidences  of  Christianity  to 
' '  what  they  call  the  effect  in  architecture  or  other  works 
of  art."  It  is  the  only  glimpse  that  he  gives  ns  of  an 
extravagant  fondness  for  elegance  in  building  and  deco- 
ration which  led  him  to  expend  large  portions  of  his 
princely  income  upon  the  see-houses  of  Bristol  and 
Durham,  somewhat  to  the  scandal  of  his  contemporaries. 
His  devotion  to  this  most  imaginative  of  the  arts  would 
indicate  no  lack  of  the  imaginative  faculty.  That  rere- 
dos  in  his  chapel  hints  of  an  aesthetic  ritualist,  who  did 
not  dislike  such  symbolism  as  may  be  expressive  of 
evangelical  doctrine.  Mr.  Bagehot,  in  his  "  Literary 
Studies,"  forgetting  or  not  knowing  of  these  artis'tic 
tastes  of  the  ascetic  bishop,  comments  severely  upon  the 
prosaic  atmosphere  of  the  Analogy :  "If  the  world  were 
a  Durham  mine  or  an  exact  square,  no  part  of  it  more 
expressive  than  a  gravel-pit  or  a  chalk-quarry,  the  teach- 
ing of  Butler  would  be  as  true  as  it  is  now."  Turn 
away  from  this  picture  to  a  stately  chamber  wainscoted 
with  cedar  and  brilliant  with  storied  windows,  where  the 
patriarchal  prelate  is  seated,  his  white  hair  flowing  to 
his  shoulders  and  a  divine  placidity  animating  his  coun- 
tenance, while  Mr.  Eems,  the  precentor  of  St.  Paul's,  is 
playing  for  him  upon  the  organ.  Is  this  a  Durham  coal- 
pit or  chalk-quarry  or  even  an  exact  square  ? 

There  have  been  some  hints  of  a  want  of  originality 
in  Butler,  which  have  only  a  plausible  color.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone has  been  at  pains  to  collect  them.  Hallam,  it 
seems,  has  detected  certain  portions  of  Bishop  Cumber^ 
land's  treatise  on  the  "Laws  of  Nature,"  though  greatly 
ino.liried.  ill  the  «:,haptevs  on  the  Natural  and  Moral  Gov- 
'^n.ifuerji  «>Hio.|.  l-'it^tierald  Hijd>  iii  Fosters  "  Be}>ly  to 
Tindal  '  a  rtimarkable  anticipation  uf  tlie  chapter  on  the 


BISHOP  BUTLER   ON  SGIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     155 

Want  of  Universality  in  Revelation  ;  and  he  also  quotes 
and  explains  a  striking  sentence  from  Berkeley's  "  Mi- 
nute Philosopher  "  which  suggests  the  very  phraseology 
of  Butler  :  "  It  will  be  sufficient  if  such  Analogy  appears 
between  the  dispensations  of  grace  and  nature  [although 
much  should  be  unaccountable  in  both]  to  suppose  them 
derived  from  the  same  author,  and  the  Avorkmanship  of 
one  and  the  same  hand."  A  Dublin  i)rofessor  of  divin- 
ity, Dr.  Bernard,  has  printed  a  paper  on  "  The  Prede- 
cessors of  Butler,"  among  whom  he  names  Wilkins,  Col- 
liber,  and  Shaftesbury  as  writers  to  whom  he  is  specially 
indebted.  Agreeing  with  such  critics,  Mr.  Mark  Patti- 
son  goes  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  merit  of  the  Anal- 
ogy lies  in  its  lack  of  originality,  as  a  mere  rearrange- 
ment and  summary  of  all  the  actual  and  possible  opinions 
which  came  within  the  scope  of  the  argument.  There 
is  no  need  to  defend  Butler  from  such  charges.  Any- 
one who  wdll  take  the  trouble  can  hud  scattered  through 
his  pages  in  abundance  the  ideas  and  phrases  of  preced- 
ing and  contemporary  writers.  Butler  himself  says,  in 
one  of  his  prefaces,  "  A  subject  may  be  treated  in  a  man- 
ner w^hich  all  along  supposes  the  reader  acquainted  with 
what  has  been  said  upon  it  both  by  ancient  and  modern 
writers  and  with  what  is  the  present  state  of  opinion  in 
the  world  concerning  such  subject."  Like  many  another 
great  author  he  reproduced  the  results  of  his  reading 
unconsciously  without  a  thought  of  plagiarism.  Had 
he  endeavored  to  connect  them  with  marginal  references 
and  citations,  his  page  would  have  been  encumbered 
with  more  notes  than  text.  He  did  no^  "boose  thus  to 
lea^e  hi;r  masterpier'e  >i;jii«liiii.'  ;tii(<Mi;j  \\\*:  <-lii|vw  ,,|' flj^, 
^^  orkshuj,'. 
Of  all  thti  liieiary  dcliciLiicit>  aliened,  il  luay  u<,»'a   be 


156         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

said  that  at  their  worst  they  are  superficial  and  unim- 
portant. The  truth  is,  that  Butler  had  no  literary  am- 
bition. Though  tempted  by  the  grandest  of  themes,  he 
simply  wrote  to  be  understood.  Though  gifted  with  an 
architectonic  genius,  he  preferred  the  severe  Doric  to 
the  ornate  Corinthian  in  the  construction  of  his  argu- 
ment. Though  the  most  original  of  thinkers,  he  did  not 
disdain  the  thoughts  of  the  humblest  writers. 


Logical  Deficiencies. 

The  logical  deficiencies  alleged  against  Butler,  like  the 
literary  deficiencies,  pertain  to  the  form  rather  than  the 
substance  or  purport  of  the  Analogy.  As  a  piece  of 
reasoning  it  has  often  been  admired.  Someone  likens 
every  sentence  of  it  to  a  well-considered  move  in  chess. 
Apart  from  its  high  religious  purpose  or  rather  in  con- 
nection with  that  purpose,  it  has  long  served  as  a  men- 
tal gymnastic  for  the  training  of  Christian  thinkers  in 
the  English  universities  and  American  colleges,  ranking 
in  educational  value  with  the  higher  logic  and  mathe- 
matics. Mr.  Mark  Pattison,  though  he  inconsistently 
removed  it  from  its  place  among  the  Oxford  studies, 
commends  "  the  solid  striicture  of  logical  argument,  in 
which  it  surpasses  any  other  book  in  the  English  lan- 
guage." Nevertheless,  some  objections  have  been 
brought  against  it,  which  are  primarily  logical  in  their 
nature. 

It  has  been  accused  of  a  fallacious  use  of  the  ad  Jiomi- 
nem  argument.  Dr.  Martineau  speaks  quite  bitterly  of 
its  irritating  effect  upon  the  believers  in  natural  religion, 
and  declares  that  it  hurts  and  browbeats  all  who  take 
auy  ground  between  thcisiii  and  orthodox  Christianity. 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCTENTTFTC  EVIDENCES     157 

It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  iu  reasoning 
from  the  premises  of  the  deist,  Butler  could  have  in- 
tended nothing  personal  to  them  as  individuals  or  as  a 
class,  since  he  agreed  with  them  as  far  as  they  went,  and 
their  system  of  natural  religion  was  almost  as  generally 
accepted  in  that  da}'  as  the  Copernican  system  of  as- 
tronomy in  our  day.  In  like  manner,  he  argued  upon 
the  premises  of  the  Necessitarian  or  Fatalist  only  in 
order  to  convince  him  that  his  premises  were  untenable, 
and  to  bring  him,  as  well  as  the  Libertarian,  under  tlie 
obligations  of  religion.  So  also  lie  reasoned  upon  the 
theories  of  prudence  and  benevolence,  because  they 
might  contain  moral  elements  not  inconsistent  with  his 
own  theory  of  essential  virtue.  Always,  indeed,  his 
manifest  aim  was  not  so  much  to  succeed  in  an  argu- 
ment as  to  arrive  at  the  whole  truth. 

Butler  has  also  been  charged  with  the  fallacy  of  the 
argument  ad  ignorantiam.  It  may  be  granted  that  Mi*. 
Stephen  finds  an  instance  of  it,  perhaps  the  only  in- 
stance of  a  flaw  in  Butler's  reasoning,  where  he  argues 
from  our  ignorance  of  the  whole  sj^stem  of  things,  that 
animals,  like  infants,  may  survive  death  as  undeveloped 
moral  agents  and  find  some  unknown  place  and  purpose 
in  the  future  economy.  With  less  pertinence  ^Iv.  jMat- 
thew  Arnold  complains  of  his  frequent  appeals  to  our 
ignorance  as  based  upon  assumed  knowledge  of  an  un- 
knowable Deity ;  whereas  he  bases  such  appeals  upon 
the  facts  of  our  situation,  upon  the  incompetency  of 
reason  and  the  incomprehensibility  of  the  universe. 
He  shows  that  the  Christian  scheme,  like  the  scheme  of 
nature,  in  its  immensity  and  complexity,  transcends  our 
utmost  capacity  of  thought,  and  almost  loses  his  patience 
with  a  caviller  who  fancies  that  he  knows  enough  of  it 


158  EVTDl'JXCES  OF  REVEALED   UELIQION 

to  criticise  it.  "  Let  reasou  be  kept  to,"  he  exclaims, 
"  and  if  any  part  of  the  Scripture  account  of  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  world  by  Christ,  can  be  shown  to  be  really 
contrary  to  it,  let  the  Scripture,  in  the  name  of  God,  be 
given  up.  But  let  not  such  poor  creatures  as  we,  go  on 
objecting  against  an  infinite  scheme  that  we  do  not  see 
the  necessity  or  usefulness  of  all  its  parts,  and  call  this 
reasoning." 

He  has  been  charged  with  fallacies  of  analogy.  His 
daring  comparison  of  the  loss  of  souls  to  the  waste  of 
seeds  in  Nature  becomes  as  revolting  as  Mr.  Goldwin 
Smith  has  depicted  it,  if  pushed  beyond  the  exact  point 
of  the  comparison — which  is  that  souls,  like  seeds,  were 
designed,  not  for  destruction,  but  for  perfection.  The 
terrible  impression  of  the  ruin  of  so  many  moral  agents 
may  be  lessened  when  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
analogy  fails  are  brought  into  view,  viz.  :  that  souls, 
iinlike  seeds,  are  free  moral  agents  which  may  be  saved 
from  destruction  ;  that  souls,  unlike  seeds,  will  be  saved 
according  to  their  own  action  and  opportunity  ;  and  that 
souls,  unlike  seeds,  cannot  be  lost  in  the  dreadful  ratio 
of  millions  to  one,  if  the  immense  majority  of  mankind, 
the  heathen  and  infants,  be  included  with  believers  in 
the  number  of  the  saved. 

The  fallacy  of  the  petitio  principn  has  also  been 
charged  against  Butler.  Mr.  Arnold  seems  to  accuse 
him  of  begging  the  question  by  assuming  what  he  is 
trying  to  prove — the  existence  of  a  future  life  of  w  hicli 
we  have  had  no  experience.  It  would  be  enough  to  re- 
ply, that  he  offers  his  analogical  argument  as  supplemen- 
tal to  the  " proper  "  or  "natural  and  moral  proofs  of 
immortality."  Strictly  speaking,  however,  we  can  have 
no  experience  of  anything  future  ;  no  more  of  our  future 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     150 

life  in  this  world  than  of  our  future  life  in  another 
world.  But  we  can  reason  from  our  present  experience 
to  the  probability  of  either,  with  greater  or  less  degree 
of  evidence.  From  our  experience  of  a  former  state  of 
life  in  the  womb  and  in  our  infancy  we  can  anticipate 
the  state  of  mature  age,  and  after  death  ti  still  higher 
state  of  being  as  unlike  the  present  as  manhood  is  un- 
like infancy  or  unlike  the  embryo  before  birth.  And 
then,  on  the  basis  of  this  proved  immortality,  we  can 
argue  from  our  experience  of  moral  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments in  this  world  and  from  the  observed  tendencies 
of  virtue  to  prevail  over  vice,  that  the  divine  govern- 
ment, though  imjDerfect  here,  will  be  completed  here- 
after in  another  world,  where  existing  hinderances  will 
have  disappeared.  In  the  same  manner  Butler  has  an- 
ticipated Mr.  x4.rnold's  objection  to  theism  as  an  implicit 
assumption  wanting  in  the  element  of  experience.  All 
such  objections  are  reducible  to  the  absurdity  of  main- 
taining that  we  can  prove  nothing  which  we  have  not 
experienced. 

Butler's  reliance  upon  probable  evidence  as  sufficient 
to  determine  belief  and  practice  has  been  much  ques- 
tioned as  tending  to  a  reductio  ad  absurdum.  Mr.  Les- 
lie Stephen  accuses  him  of  representing  '*  doubt  as  a 
ground  of  action  ; "  and  the  ridicule  of  Matthew  Arnold 
becomes  so  merry  as  to  become  contagious  :  "  If  I  am 
going  to  take  a  walk  out  of  Edinburgh,  and  thought  of 
choosing  the  Portobello  road,  and  a  travelling  Menag- 
erie is  taking  the  same  road,  it  is  certainly  possible  that 
a  tiger  may  escape  from  the  Menagerie  and  devour  me 
if  I  take  that  road  ;  but  the  evidence  that  he  will  is  cer- 
tainly, also,  much  lower  than  what  is  commonly  called 
probable.     Well,  I  do  not,  on  that  low  degree  of  evi- 


IGO         F.VTBENCER  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

clence,  avoid  the  Portobello  road  and  take  another." 
Had  the  ingenious  critic  only  read  the  first  paragraph 
of  the  work  before  him,  the  tiger  of  his  logic  woukl 
liave  appeared  there  rampant :  "  We  cannot  indeed  say 
a  thing  is  probably  true  upon  one  very  slight  presump- 
tion, because,  as  there  may  be  probabilities  on  both 
sides  of  a  question,  there  may  be  some  against  it,  and 
though  there  be  not,  yet  a  sliglit  presumption  does  not 
beget  that  degree  of  conviction  which  is  implied  in  saj^- 
ing  a  tiling  is  probably  true." 

Butler's  critics  have  also  depreciated  his  general 
conclusions  as  meagre  and  unsatisfactor3\  They  dwell 
upon  a  supposed  "  breakdown "  of  his  argument,  its 
"  puny  insignificant  outcome,"  and  his  own  judgment 
of  its  inconclusive  character,  and  draw  pathetic  pictures 
of  him  at  the  close  of  his  treatise  as  seated  in  mournful 
dejection  or  staggering  like  a  blind  giant  out  of  Doubt- 
ing Castle.  It  is  simply  astonishing  that  critics  of  such 
intelligence  should  so  mistake  faith  for  doubt,  candor 
for  concession,  and  courage  for  weakness.  If  Butler 
proved  anything,  he  proved  all  that  he  meant  to  prove. 
From  his  first  page  to  his  last  page  he  is  ever  insisting 
that  a  demonstrative  proof  of  Christianity  is  in  the  nat- 
ure of  the  subject  unattainable ;  that  imperfect  beings 
must  be  guided  by  probability ;  that  satisfactory  evi- 
dence is  not  possible  to  such  a  creature  as  man;  and 
that  the  evidence  of  religion  is  the  same  in  kind  and 
degree  as  that  upon  which  we  proceed  in  other  investi- 
gations and  in  all  the  affairs  of  life.  "  What  men  re- 
quire," he  says,  with  something  like  scorn,  "is  to  have 
all  difficulties  cleared,  which  is  the  same  as  requiring 
to  comprehend  the  divine  nature,  and  the  whole  plan  of 
Providence  from  everlasting  to  everlasting."     Yes,  the 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     101 

Analogy  may  be  a  logical  failure  to  those  who  will  be- 
lieve nothing  until  you  can  prove  everything. 


Metaphysical  Deficiencies, 

The  metaphysical  deficiencies  which  have  been  alleged 
are  felt  only  by  a  certain  class  of  metaphysical  minds. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  the  German  divine,  Tholuck, 
familiar  with  the  eftbrts  of  his  countrymen  to  solve  the 
problem  of  the  universe  by  sheer  speculation,  such  as 
the  Theodicy  of  Leibnitz,  should  remark  upon  the  je- 
june, commonplace  reflections  of  the  Analogy  and  com- 
plain of  the  reading  of  it  as  "  a  perpetual  going  afoot  over 
sand."  Bishop  Fitzgerald  aptly  rejoins  that  tiresome 
as  this  mode  of  travelling  may  be,  it  is  better  than  for 
one  to  mount  a  hippogriff  for  an  adventurous  excursion 
through  the  air  and  find  his  journey  soon  ended,  not  on 
the  sand,  but  in  the  sea.  Butler  himself  has  shown  very 
clearly  that  we  have  no  faculties  for  such  speculations, 
and  discarded  from  the  outset  "  the  idle  and  not  very  in- 
nocent employment  of  foi-ming  imaginary  models  of  the 
world  and  schemes  of  governing  it."  It  is  true,  that  one 
English  philosopher,  Mark  Pattison,  has  so  far  agreed 
with  the  German  critic  as  to  say  that  Butler's  work  "  di- 
verts the  mind  from  the  great  outlines  of  scientific  and 
philosophic  thought  and  fastens  it  on  petty  considera- 
tions, being  in  this  respect  the  converse  of  Bacon's 
'  Novum  Organ um.' "  But  it  is  strange  that  so  well  read 
a  critic  should  have  forgotten  how  large  a  space  is  filled 
by  religion,  both  natural  and  revealed,  in  the  philoso- 
phy of  Bacon,  and  how  imperiously  he  would  fasten  the 
mind  upon  the  pettiest  details  at  the  very  opening  of 
his  great  work.  "  The  capital  precept  for  the  whole 
11 


162         EVIDENCES  OF  UEVEALED  RELIQION 

undertaking  is  this,  that  the  eye  of  the  mind  be  never 
taken  off  from  things  themselves,  but  receive  their  im- 
ages truly  as  they  are.  And  God  forbid  that  ever  we 
should  offer  the  dreams  of  fancy  for  a  model  of  the 
world." 

At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  found  that  Butler,  while 
keeping  the  speculative  propensity  within  due  limits, 
has  necessarily  glanced  at  some  of  the  deeper  metaphys- 
ical problems  which  underlie  both  nature  and  religion, 
such  as  the  being  of  a  God,  the  existence  of  the  soul,  the 
freedom  of  the  Will,  the  nature  of  Virtue.  In  his  treat- 
ment of  these  problems,  he  is  thought  by  Leslie  Stephen 
to  be  a  mere  child  as  compared  with  Hobbes,  Hume,  or 
Jonathan  Edwards.  But  the  young  student  at  Tewkes- 
bury, who  was  admitted  to  the  honors  of  equal  combat 
with  the  veteran  metaphysician  of  his  day,  Samuel 
Clarke,  can  scarcely  be  thought  wanting  in  metaphysical 
ability,  had  he  chosen  to  exert  it.  Nor  does  he  suffer 
in  this  respect  by  comparison  Avith  his  recent  critics. 

Take,  for  example,  their  criticism  of  histheistic  prem- 
ises. Mr.  Arnold  tells  us  that  they  are  so  antiquated 
that  he  does  not  care  two  straws  for  them.  But  he 
gives  us  no  means  of  estimating  his  own  agnostic  prem- 
ises, not  even  a  marginal  reference  to  Herbert  Spencer, 
nothing  but  his  mere  dictum  that  Butler's  conception  of 
an  intelligent  Author  of  Nature  and  moral  Governor  of 
the  world  is  anthropomorphic,  a  quasi-human  agent 
with  a  will  and  character.  When  Butler  asks  why  a 
tree  does  not  require  an  intelligent  designer  as  much  as 
a  house,  he  thinks  it  enough  to  answer  with  the  agnostic 
Topsy  that  it  "  just  grow'd,"  or  has  resulted  from  "  a 
tendency  to  grow."  The  theistic  proof  from  necessary 
being,  or  essence,  he  terms  puzzling,  and  would  not  have 


BISHOP  BUTLER   ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     103 

religion  founded  upon  a  puzzle,  but  would  replace  the 
puzzle  with  a  so-called  ''  stream  of  tendency  making  for 
righteousness,"  which  is  no  better  foundation  for  religion, 
or  rather  no  foundation  at  all.  Butler's  theism  was 
neither  a  puzzle  nor  a  metaphor,  but  based  on  combined 
reason  and  experience.  It  was  enough  for  his  purpose 
to  refer  to  its  "  accumulated  evidence  ;  from  the  argu- 
ment of  analogy  and  final  causes,  from  abstract  reason- 
ings, from  ancient  tradition  and  testimony,  and  from  the 
general  consent  of  mankind ; "  the  old  ontological, 
cosmological,  teleological,  and  historical  arguments, 
which  have  worn  so  well  in  time  past,  and  are  likely  to 
wear  well  in  time  to  come. 

As  another  example  of  his  metaphysical  presupposi- 
tions, take  his  theory  of  free-will  and  immutable  moral- 
ity. Mr.  Arnold  suggests  that  Butler's  moral  govern- 
ment of  the  world  might  go  on  rewarding  and  punishing 
men  without  the  annexed  notion  of  an  anthropomorphic 
Governor,  and  with  only  the  everlasting  "  stream  of  ten- 
dency "  to  drive  the  grinding  mill,  as  it  turned  out  saints 
or  villains  with  impartial  accuracy.  But  what  would 
then  become  of  man's  freedom,  and  the  good  or  ill 
desert  of  actions  ?  Mr.  Stephen  tells  us  intrepidly,  as 
a  fatalist  and  an  atheist.  He  says  that  "  Free  Will  is 
the  device  b}'  which  most  theologians  justify  God's 
wrath  with  the  work  of  His  own  hands,"  and  exclaims, 
"  How  can  He  judge  us  after  He  has  made  us  ?  "  As  if 
anticipating  such  objections  Butler  has  said:  "I  have 
argued  upon  the  principles  of  the  Fatalists,  which  I  do 
not  believe ;  and  have  omitted  a  thing  of  the  utmost 
importance  which  I  do  believe,  the  moral  fitness  and 
unfitness  of  actions,  prior  to  all  will  whatever :  which  I 
apprehend  as  certainly  to  determine  the  Divine  conduct 


1G4         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

as  speculative  truth  and  falsehood  necessarily  determine 
the  Divine  judgment."  In  other  words  we  can  no  more 
imagine  God  making  right  wrong  than  making  two  and 
two  less  than  four.  And  hence  He  is  supremely  moral, 
as  well  as  rational,  within  the  sphere  of  human  freedom. 
If,  then,  it  be  o-ranted  that  Butler  is  deficient  in  some 
forms  of  false  metaphysics,  and  has  purposely  excluded 
some  metaphysical  questions  from  his  argument,  yet,  so 
far  as  he  has  touched  upon  them,  he  has  shown  the  hand 
of  a  master,  and  kept  himself  in  line  with  the  best 
metaphysical  thought  of  the  present  day. 

Religious  Deficiencies. 

The  alleged  religious  deficiencies  are  the  last  to  be 
noticed.  And  they  are  the  most  serious.  If  the  Anal- 
ogy fails  to  induce  religious  belief  and  practice,  it  fails 
in  its  chief  aim,  and  is  a  total  failure.  Few  critics  have 
gone  to  so  extreme  a  judgment  concerning  it,  but  special 
objections  have  been  made  to  it  which  are  of  a  religious 
nature.  The  philosopher  Maurice  has  fancied  that 
Wesley  could  not  find  in  it  his  peculiar  doctrine  of  de- 
pravity and  regeneration.  Its  tone  or  spirit  has  been 
complained  of  by  some  orthodox  writers,  like  Chalmers, 
Malcolm,  and  Emory,  who  have  regretted  a  lack  of  evan- 
gelical savor  or  sentiment.  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith,  as  an 
appreciative  critic,  speaks  of  its  dry-light  of  intellectu- 
ality as  wholly  wanting  in  religious  feeling  and  sym- 
pathy. Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  misses  in  it  his  "  sweet  rea- 
sonableness," and  declares  that  the  total  impression  left 
by  Butler  upon  his  mind  is  not  exactly  that  of  a  saint. 
The  absence  of  mere  saintly  phrases  is  very  happily  ex- 
plained by  Mr.  Gladstone  as  due  to  the  habit  of  reserve 


BISHOP  BUTLER   ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     165 

which  characterizes  the  English  type  of  piety.  It  may 
also  have  been  due,  in  Butler's  apologetic,  to  good  sense 
and  good  taste,  as  well  as  to  temperament.  At  the 
sijmjoosia  of  Queen  Caroline,  he  had  seen  enough  of  the 
loose  deism  of  fashionable  circles  to  know  when  mere 
preaching  or  sermonizing  would  be  misplaced  and  use- 
less. Addressing  philosophers,  he  used  the  tone  and 
speech  of  philosophy. 

A  lack  of  convicting  or  converting  power  has  also 
been  charged,  but  the  charge  is  not  well  sustained  by 
the  instances  cited.  The  famous  saying  of  Pitt  that 
Butler  raised  more  doubts  in  his  mind  than  he  solved, 
when  traced  to  its  source,  proves  to  have  been  reported 
at  second  hand,  and  in  its  authentic  form  only  meant 
that  Butler's  abundant  candor  brought  to  light  many 
difficulties  of  which  Pitt  had  never  dreamed — which 
might  be  said  of  almost  any  book  of  evidences.  In  the 
same  careless  manner  it  has  been  reported  that  the 
philosopher,  James  Mill,  was  made  an  atheist  by  reading 
the  Analogy ;  the  fact  being  that  for  a  while  it  held  him 
back  from  Atheism  until,  at  length,  he  lapsed  into  some- 
thing like  agnosticism.  The  great  Unitarian  divine 
and  thinker.  Dr.  Martineau,  declared  that  he  never  knew 
anybody  converted  by  Butler's  Analogy,  and  opened  the 
fiercest  of  all  the  attacks  upon  it  in  these  words  :  "  To 
question  Butler's  perfection  is  in  the  eyes  of  churchmen 
little  short  of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost."  He 
was  followed  by  his  pupil,  Miss  Hennel,  embodying  his 
objections  in  an  "  Essay  on  the  Sceptical  Tendency  of 
Butler's  Analogy."  And  two  or  three  other  critics  have 
since  joined  in  the  refrain,  that  the  Analogy  is  an  incen- 
tive to  atheism  and  irreligion.  I  can  give  only  a  few 
samples  of  their  strictures. 


166         EVIDENCES  OF  UEVEALED  RELIGION 

Such  censors  charge  that  it  undermines  the  proper 
evidences  of  natural  religion.  Miss  Hennel  and  Mr. 
Arnold  both  hint  that  Butler  accepted  blindly  deistical 
premises  which  are  discarded  in  our  day,  and  built  all 
religion  on  an  abstract  theistic  argument  of  Clarke  which 
once  had  currency.  But  Butler,  in  accepting  the  deisti- 
cal premises,  has  carefully  indicated  the  sources  of  their 
proof,  and  distinctly  asserted  that  he  built  up  all  relig- 
ion upon  solid  facts,  and  not  upon  abstract  reasonings, 
which  he  had  examined  and  rejected.  Dr.  Martineau 
argues  that  by  importing  the  difficulties  of  natural  relig- 
ion into  revealed  religion  Butler  laid  upon  the  former 
a  tremendous  weight  which  it  cannot  bear.  But  Butler, 
before  proceeding  to  the  problems  of  revealed  religion, 
summarized,  with  masterly  fulness  and  force,  the  evi- 
dences of  natural  religion,  and  thus  made  firm  the 
ground  upon  Avhich  he  stands.  Mr.  Stephen,  comment- 
ing upon  Butler's  argument  for  reconciling  the  opinion 
of  necessity  with  the  religion  of  nature,  declares  :  "  No 
evasion  can  blind  us  to  the  true  bearing  of  his  state- 
ment. God  made  men  liable  to  sin ;  he  placed  them 
where  they  were  certain  to  sin  ;  he  damned  them  ever- 
lastingly for  sinning.  This  is  the  road  by  which  the 
Analogy  leads  to  Atheism."  Now,  in  his  very  introduc- 
tion, Butler  has  maintained  that  the  end  of  the 
Creator  is  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  his  creatures, 
though  it  may  not  be  possible  to  accomplish  this  end 
without  something  of  hazard,  suifering,  and  sin  on 
their  part ;  and  in  one  of  his  most  poAverful  chap- 
ters he  has  shown  that  the  unfolding  scheme  of  Nat- 
ure and  Providence  affords  ever-increasing  evidence 
of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Creator  in  pro- 
moting  the   virtue   and    happiness    of   His    creatures. 


BISHOP  BUT  LEU  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     167 

This  is  the   road   by  which   the  Analogy   leads   away 
from  Atheism. 

The  censors  have  also  charged  that  Butler  has  ob- 
scured the  peculiar  evidences  of  revealed  religion  as 
well  as  natural  religion.  Dr.  Martineau  declares  that 
the  darkness,  the  negation,  the  sorrows  of  Natural  Re- 
ligion are  made,  not  simply  to  reappear  in  Butler's 
Christianity,  but  to  constitute  it  and  be  the  only  soul  it 
has.  On  the  contrary,  Butler  has  shown  that  the  diffi- 
culties of  religion  are  inherent  in  the  pre-existing  con- 
stitution of  man  and  nature,  that  they  necessarily  re- 
appear in  Christianity,  no  longer,  however,  as  distressing 
enigmas,  but  as  problems  in  solution,  as  evils  of  sin  to 
be  remedied  by  grace,  as  marks  of  Divine  justice  to  be 
effaced  by  Divine  love.  Mr.  Bagehot,  like  Dr.  Marti- 
neau, complains  of  Butler's  critique  of  revelation  as  an- 
tecedently improbable,  and  maintains  that  revelation  to 
serve  its  purpose  should  be  a  perfect  remedy  for  human 
ignorance,  should  avoid  paradoxes  and  mysteries,  and 
should  throw  light  upon  the  actual  world  in  which  we 
live.  On  the  other  hand  Butler  has  shown  that  we  are 
incompetent  judges  of  what  a  revelation  should  contain; 
that  to  ask  for  a  more  perfect  revelation  would  end  in 
demanding  omniscience  itself;  that  its  mysteries  and 
paradoxes  are  inherent  in  the  themes  of  religion  ;  that 
they  are  no  greater  than  the  riddles  of  science  and  com- 
mon life,  and  that  they  often  serve  as  trials  of  faith. 
Both  Dr.  Martineau  and  Mr.  Stephen  have  bitterlj- 
commented  upon  Butler's  view  of  a  vicarious  Saviour  as 
the  central  doctrine  of  revealed  religion,  and  have  de- 
nounced it  as  exhibiting  the  innocent  punished  for  the 
guilty  and  placing  injustice  upon  the  very  throne  of  the 
universe.     Against  such  strictures  Butler   has   shown 


168         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

that  the  revelation  of  a  vicarious  Saviour  is  in  strict 
analogy  with  the  whole  existing  constitution  of  human 
society  —  that  parents  suffer  for  their  children,  pa- 
triots suffer  for  their  country,  philanthropists  suffer 
for  their  kind ;  and  so,  that  the  Christ  crucified  as 
being  at  once  the  greatest  of  sufferers  and  the  great- 
est of  benefactors,  the  Divine  Saviour  of  a  lost  world, 
has  placed  infinite  Love  upon  the  throne  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

I  have  sketched  the  merest  outline  of  an  argument 
which  is  embarrassing  in  its  richness  and  fulness.  It 
is  not  enough  to  read  it.  It  should  be  studied  and 
pondered.  The  fault  of  Butler's  censors  is  that  they 
have  not  mastered  it,  whether  from  inattention  or 
whatever  cause.  We  can  admire  the  genius  and  culture 
which  have  made  them  eminent  in  other  Avalks  of  litera- 
ture and  philosophy  Avliere  they  have  achieved  deserved 
fame.  Dr.  Martineau  stands  foremost  among  Eng- 
lish philosophic  divines,  and  Mr.  Arnold  has  written 
poems  that  will  live  as  long  as  the  language.  Never- 
theless, the  fact  remains  that  these  critics  plainly  show 
ignorance  of  certain  portions  of  the  Analogy,  and  as 
plainly  have  detached  other  portions  from  some  needed 
logical  connection.  And  hence  their  objections  are  of  no 
effect.  We  may  accept  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
— "  The  catapult  has  beaten  on  the  walls  of  the  fort- 
ress :  it  has  stood  the  shock.  The  tempest  has  roared 
around  the  stately  tree,  and  scarcely  a  leaf  or  twig 
has  fallen  to  the  ground.  My  confidence  is  strength- 
ened not  only  in  the  permanence  of  Butler's  fame,  but 
much  more  in  the  permanence  and  abundance  of  the 
services  he  has  yet  to  render  to  his  country,  to  his  kind, 
and  perhaps  to  Christendom,  as  a  classic  of  thought  in 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     1G9 

the  greatest  of  all  its  domains,  the  domain  of  religious 
philosophy." 

This  discussion  has  largely  anticipated  Butler's  apol- 
ogetic services,  as  well  as  prepared  us  to  appreciate 
them ;  and  it  only  remains  to  set  them  forth  as  the  re- 
sults of  the  inquiry.  I  shall  mention  his  four  principal 
services : 

Tlie   Value  of  Clirisilan  Evidence, 

The  first  relates  to  the  value  of  Christian  evidence. 
The  need  of  some  valuation  of  it  was  great  in  his  day, 
and  it  is  still  great  in  our  day.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  for  the  inquirer  into  the  truth  of  Christianity 
to  set  up  some  false  standard  of  proof  and  then  demand 
a  kind  or  degree  of  evidence  of  which  the  case  does  not 
admit  and  which  is  simply  impossible.  Butler  has  en- 
joined the  one  true  standard  as  a  preliminary  study. 

In  the  first  place,  he  has  defined  the  logical  value  of 
Christian  evidence.  It  is  not  demonstrative  evidence, 
but  probable  evidence.  This  is  the  first  word  and  the 
last  word  of  his  apologetic.  Demonstrative  evidence 
carries  immediate  full  conviction,  while  probable  evi- 
dence admits  of  degrees  from  the  lowest  presumption 
up  to  the  highest  probability  or  morid  certaint3^  The 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide,  for  example,  when  observed 
for  the  first  time,  would  be  barely  presumable,  but,  hav- 
ing been  repeatedly  observ^ed  by  mankind  through  many 
ages,  it  has  become  morally  certain.  Thus  it  is  that  the 
evidences  of  Christianity  are  a  vast  accumulation  of 
presumptions  or  probabilities  which  have  been  amassed 
by  successive  generations  until  they  now  approach  high 


170         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

probability  iu  many  minds,  and  in  some  of  the  finest 
minds  of  the  race  have  reached  moral  certainty. 

In  the  second  place,  he  has  defined  the  ethical  value 
of  Christian  evidence.  There  is  a  moral  element  in  our 
opinions.  We  are  responsible  for  our  belief.  If  Chris- 
tianity admitted  of  demonstrative  proof  as  clear  as  that 
two  and  two  make  four,  disbelief  would  be  an  act  of 
insanity  for  which  no  one  would  be  responsible.  But 
since  Christian  Evidence  is  only  probable  evidence, 
there  will  always  be  a  residuum  of  doubt  in  the  most  be- 
lieving minds,  and  therefore  always  room  for  faith  and 
the  need  of  faith.  As  to  this  deficiency  in  Christian 
evidence,  be  it  great  or  small,  Butler  has  shown:  (1) 
That  it  is  not  peculiar  to  Christianity,  but  belongs  to 
all  matters  of  opinion  ;  (2)  that  it  is  easily  explained 
by  the  nature  of  religion  and  the  narrow  scope  of  our 
faculties ;  (3)  that  it  is  incident  to  our  state  of  proba- 
tion and  especially  needed  for  the  discipline  of  specu- 
lative minds,  inquiring  into  the  truth  of  religion,  which 
otherwise  could  not  be  tested  and  disciplined;  (4) 
that  it  does  not  release  us  from  the  obligation  of  con- 
tinued inquiry  ;  and  (5)  that  after  all  it  may  be  largely 
our  OAvn  fault  and  part  of  our  highest  accountability.  No 
more  practical  contribution  to  Christian  apologetics  has 
been  made  in  any  language  than  Butler's  chapter  on  the 
"  Supposed  Deficiency  in  the  Proof  of  Christianity ; " 
and  none  has  been  more  strangely  overlooked  or  misun- 
derstood by  his  critics. 

The  Logic  of  Christian  Evidence. 

His  second  service  relates  to  the  logic  of  Christian 
evidence.     To  ascertain  the  kind  of  logic  or  reasoning 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SGtENTIFtC  EVIDENCES     171 

applicable  to  the  problems  of  religion  is  a  primary  need 
of  the  apologete.  For  the  want  of  it  the  greatest  Chris- 
tian advocates,  in  his  time  as  in  our  time,  have  tried  to 
chop  iron  with  a  wooden  axe  ;  to  settle  religious  ques- 
tions by  mere  efforts  of  abstract  thought  or  feats  of 
deductive  logic.  Discarding  all  reasoning  from  ideal 
premises,  Butler  has  confined  the  mind  to  realities,  to 
facts  and  the  relations  of  facts,  by  means  of  that  form 
of  inductive  logic  known  as  Analogy,  which  consists  in 
reasoning  from  known  facts  to  others  like  them. 

He  first  defines  Analogy  in  general,  as  used  in  com- 
mon life  and  ordinary  inquiries.  Its  foundation,  its 
measure,  and  its  utility  are  discussed.  As  to  the  foun- 
dation of  Analogy,  it  rests  upon  likelihood.  A  thing  is 
probable  or  likely  when  it  is  like  some  other  truth 
already  known  or  some  other  event  hitherto  observed  : 
like  it,  in  itself,  or  in  its  evidence,  or  in  its  circum- 
stances. If  the  likeness  includes  its  mere  circum- 
stances, the  likelihood  is  a  rhetorical  analogy  or  simile, 
as  when  we  speak  of  the  mother  country.  If  it  em- 
braces its  evidences  to  the  mind,  it  is  a  moral  analogy, 
as  when  the  life  of  Christ  is  made  credible  by  conq^ar- 
ing  it  with  the  story  of  Csesar.  If  it  extends  to  its  es- 
sential properties,  it  is  a  strictly  inductive  or  scientific 
analogy  as  when  Newton  likened  the  gravitation  of  the 
earth  toward  the  sun  to  the  fall  of  an  apple  toward  the 
earth.  Sometimes  all  three  kinds  and  grades  of  analogy 
may  be  combined  in  the  same  compared  objects.  In- 
ductively, we  may  reason  that  the  planets  are  revolving 
globes  like  our  earth  ;  morally,  we  may  argue  that  they 
are  inhabited  by  angels  somewhat  resembling  men ; 
metaphorically,  Ave  may  call  them  sister  worlds  in  the 
family  of  heaven.    It  is  evident,  however,  that  a  strictly 


172         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

scientific  analogy  must  be  based  objectively  upon  ob- 
served facts  rather  than  upon  our  own  subjective  reason- 
ings and  fancies ;  and  that  the  convincing  force  of  such 
an  analogy  will  depend  upon  the  frequency  and  fulness 
of  our  observations.  It  will  yield  us  a  presumption  or 
an  opinion  or  a  full  assurance  that  an  event  will  hap- 
pen, according  as  like  events  have  been  observed  some- 
times or  commonly  or  always  to  happen.  We  thus  be- 
come assured  that  a  child  in  twenty  years  will  reach 
the  stature  of  a  man,  because  we  have  observed  that 
children  always  grow  to  manhood.  We  form  opinions 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  different  persons  will  act  in 
given  circumstances  because  we  have  observed  how  they 
commonly  act  and  with  what  motives.  We  acquire  pre- 
sumptions for  or  against  natural  events  according  as  we 
have  observed  nature  extensively  or  partially.  In  the 
climate  of  England  Ave  presume  from  analogy  that  there 
will  be  frost  next  January  and  ice  some  time  in  the 
winter.  In  the  climate  of  Siam,  however,  the  King  pre- 
sumed from  analogy  that  water  must  always  be  soft  and 
yielding,  and  denounced  the  Dutch  Ambassador  as  a  liar 
for  telling  him  that  it  became  so  hard  in  Holland  that 
an  elephant  might  walk  upon  it.  Sir  Walter  Scott  in 
the  "Talisman"  represents  Kenneth  as  reasoning  from 
the  wider  analogy  of  both  climates  in  order  to  persuade 
Saladin  that  a  hundred  knights  had  ridden  for  miles 
upon  a  lake  as  if  it  were  crystal.  "Heat,"  said  he, 
"in  your  country  often  converts  the  soil  into  something 
as  unstable  as  water  :  and  so  in  my  land  cold  often  con- 
verts the  water  itself  into  a  substance  as  hard  as  rock." 
It  is  by  thus  correcting  and  completing  our  observa- 
tions of  phenomena  that  our  analogical  reasoning  be- 
comes sound  and  conclusive. 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIEKTIFW  EVIDENCEFi     173 

As  to  the  measure  of  Analogy,  we  may  now  see  that 
it  relates  to  finite  beings  and  yields  only  imperfect  in- 
formation. To  an  infinite  intelligence,  able  to  embrace 
the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future  within  its  scope, 
everything  must  be  absolutely  certain,  and  nothing  could 
be  merely  probable.  But  to  us,  probability  is  the  very 
guide  of  life.  At  every  step  we  act  upon  such  evidence. 
If  we  waited  for  demonstration  or  certainty,  we  could 
not  act  at  all,  but  would  be  literally  distracted  with 
doubt  and  uncertainty.  In  many  instances  we  must  act 
upon  a  bare  presumption  and  sometimes  only  upon  an 
even  chance  or  balance  of  presumptions.  In  our  spec- 
ulative pursuits,  also,  we  must  form  our  opinions  by 
weighing  probabilities  and  ascertaining  resemblances  to 
truth.  Our  whole  lives  thus  proceed,  more  or  less  con- 
sciously, upon  observed  analogies.  He  must  be  simply 
omniscient  and  omnipotent  who  could  dispense  with 
analogical  reasoning. 

Several  questions  may  here  arise  which,  if  settled, 
would  be  more  interesting  than  practical.  We  may  in- 
quire into  the  metaphysical  ground  of  analogy  and  base 
it  in  some  profound  correlation  of  subject  with  object, 
of  mind  with  nature,  ultimately  of  nature  with  God. 
As  to  its  psychical  process,  we  may  distinguish  it  from 
the  intuition  which  seizes  demonstrable  truth,  and  de- 
scribe it  as  a  subtle  mental  habit  of  generalizing  our 
observations  and  storing  them  in  unconscious  memory. 
As  to  its  logical  method,  we  may  trace  it  as  an  inductive 
reasoning  from  facts  to  principles  rather  than  a  deduc- 
tive reasoning  from  principles  to  facts.  Butler  starts 
such  questions  only  to  waive  them  as  irrelevant,  diffi- 
cult, and  unessential.  Certainly  they  are  not  essential 
in  practice.     As  the  farmer  need  not  be  a  chemist,  nor 


174-         EVWENOEFI  OF  nEVEALED  HELWION 

the  artisan  a  plijsicist,  tliougli  proceeding  respectively 
upon  chemical  and  physical  principles,  so  common  men 
may  and  do  reason  analogically  in  all  the  affairs  of  life 
without  being  logicians,  psychologists,  or  metaphy- 
sicians. Not  fully  conscious  of  this  latent  reasoning  in 
our  minds,  we  do  not  always  appreciate  its  force  and 
utility.  But  could  we  stop  and  retrace  it,  divested  of 
all  present  impressions,  so  familiar  a  certainty  as  sun- 
rise and  sunset  would  appear  to  have  been  but  one  long- 
elaborate  accumulation  of  probabilities.  Beattie,  in  his 
"  Essay  on  Truth,"  illustrates  this  b}^  supposing  "  a  man 
brought  into  being  at  maturity  and  placed  on  a  desert 
island.  He  would  abandon  himself  to  despair  when  he 
first  saw  the  sun  set  and  the  night  come  on,  for  he 
would  have  no  expectation  that  ever  the  day  would  be 
renewed.  But  he  is  transported  with  joy  when  he  again 
beholds  the  glorious  orb  appearing  in  the  east  and  the 
heavens  illuminated  as  before.  The  second  night  is  less 
dismal  than  the  first,  but  is  still  very  uncomfortable  on 
account  of  the  weakness  of  the  probability  produced  by 
one  favorable  instance.  As  the  instances  grow  more 
numerous  the  probability  becomes  stronger  and 
stronger,  yet  it  may  be  questioned  w^hether  a  man  in 
these  circumstances  would  ever  arrive  at  so  high  a  de- 
gree of  moral  certainty  in  this  matter  as  we  experience, 
who  know  not  only  that  the  sun  has  arisen  every  day 
since  we  began  to  exist,  but  also  that  the  same  phenom- 
enon has  happened  regularly  for  five  thousand  years 
without  failing  in  a  single  instance." 

It  is  no  fair  objection  to  the  use  of  Analogy  that  it  is 
sometimes  abused  by  rhetoricians  in  imparting  veri- 
similitude to  error  and  falsehood.  The  orator  Quin- 
tilian  spoke  of  it  as  making  the  doubtful  resemble  the 


BISHOP  BUTLEn  ON  SCIENTTFir  EVrDEKCES     175 

uuquestioned  and  proving  things  uncertain  by  means  of 
the  certain.  And  because  Butler  adorns  his  title-page 
with  this  motto,  it  has  been  absurdly  imagined  that  he 
meant  to  offer  his  whole  treatise  as  a  mere  artificial  dis- 
course without  much  regard  to  its  essential  validity, 
even  when  thus  employed  in  the  art  of  rhetoric.  Anal- 
ogy has  its  uses  in  repelling  captious  objections,  in 
allaying  honest  doubts,  and  in  predisposing  the  mind 
to  faith  and  knowledge  by  assimilating  new  and  strange 
truths  to  those  which  are  old  and  familiar,  and  by  col- 
lecting probabilities  where  demonstration  in  the  nature 
of  the  case  is  not  possible.  For  purposes  of  illustration, 
proof,  and  conviction  it  has  ever  been  a  potent  instru- 
ment. But  Analogy  has  much  higher  uses,  as  employed 
in  the  art  of  logic,  and  especially  in  the  logic  of  the 
sciences.  Through  the  whole  inductive  procedure  it 
aids  the  mind  in  classifying  facts,  in  generalizing  their 
laws,  and  in  advancing  to  near  and  remote  discoveries. 
It  has  been  well  termed  the  soul  of  induction.  Without 
it  no  amount  of  mere  observation  and  experience  could 
ever  yield  us  true  science. 

Nor  can  it  be  justly  objected  that  this  art  of  logic  as 
yet  is  too  imperfect  to  enable  us  to  discriminate  be- 
tween mere  rhetorical  and  strictly  scientific  analogy. 
There  are  at  least  a  few  simple  rules  for  testing  analo- 
gies, such  as  the  following :  That  our  knowledge  of  the 
objects  compared  should  be  sufficient  or  that  their  as- 
certained properties  should  exceed  their  unascertained 
properties;  that  they  should  be  of  the  same  species, 
their  resemblances  exceeding  their  differences  ;  that  the 
judgment  should  be  founded  upon  the  resemblances 
alone  ;  that  the  resemblances  taken  together  should 
afford  cumulative  probability  ;  that  the  anticipations  of 


170         EVIDENCES  OF  BEVEALED  RETJQION 

the  analogy  should  be  verified  by  experience ;  that 
there  should  be  a  concurrence  of  other  relevant  analo- 
gies. When  several  of  these  rules  apply,  the  analogy  is 
sound  and  valuable  ;  when  they  all  apply,  it  will  amount 
to  a  strict  induction  and  carry  probability  toward  moral 
certainty.  Moreover,  in  default  of  these  or  any  other 
rules,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  most  practical 
scientists,  like  men  in  common  life,  often  reason  better 
than  they  know,  without  being  able  to  give  a  philo- 
sophical account  of  the  logical  process  by  which  they 
have  reached  their  grandest  discoveries.  Indeed,  even 
if  the  whole  logic  of -science  be  pronomiced  obscure  and 
inscrutable,  its  actual  fabric,  together  with  all  popular 
knowledge,  would  still  remain  founded  upon  analogical 
reasoning. 

Now,  since  religion  no  less  than  science  deals  very 
largely  with  facts,  and  since  analogy  is  a  reasoning  from 
facts  to  others  like  them,  it  follows  that  analogy  may  be 
as  applicable  to  the  problems  of  religion  as  to  those  of 
science.  Certainly  there  is  nothing  in  religious  facts 
themselves  to  forbid  its  application.  Rather  may  they 
be  deemed  more  accessible  than  other  facts,  since  they 
lie  within  the  scope  of  consciousness  as  well  as  obser- 
vation and  have  been  accumulating  through  ages  of 
recorded  history.  Nor  can  there  be  any  presumable 
obstacle  in  the  mere  analogical  process  of  tracing  uni- 
formities and  resemblances  among  facts.  It  would  be 
strange  if  the  most  intimate  and  intelligible  phenomena 
with  which  we  can  deal,  the  phenomena  of  religion, 
should  prove  wholly  inscrutable  and  anomalous  ;  while 
physical  phenomena  around  us,  even  the  most  remote 
and  recondite,  are  exhibiting  law  and  order.  That  our 
wills  and  passions,  like  the  personal  equation  of  the 


BISHOP  BUTLER  OX  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     177 

astronomer,  may  disturb  a  religious  investigation,  is  a 
mere  circumstance  not  in  the  facts  themselves  as  de- 
tached from  our  personality.  All  prepossessions  aside, 
it  will  be  found,  as  we  proceed  through  the  realms  of 
nature  and  of  religion,  that  the  one  is  no  more  a  medley 
or  a  chaos  than  the  other.  Professor  Drummond  has 
even  argued  that  the  laws  of  the  spiritual  world  are  not 
simply  homogeneous,  but  identical  with  the  laws  of  the 
natural  world,  the  same  in  theology  as  in  ph3'siology,  in 
the  saint  as  in  the  reptile.  This,  however,  may  be  load- 
ing analogy  with  more  than  it  can  carry.  To  prove  the 
reign  of  law  in  religion  as  well  as  in  nature,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  identify  their  respective  laws,  any  more 
than  it  would  be  necessary  to  identify  the  laws  of  me- 
chanics and  chemistry  or  the  laws  of  chemistry  and 
ethics  in  order  to  vindicate  their  logical  correspond- 
ence. All  that  strict  analogy  requires  is  that  in  both 
cases  the  laAvs  should  be  found  suitable  to  the  special 
phenomena  observed.  Though  religious  laws  be  wholly 
unique,  they  might  yet  be  correlated  with  psychical  laws, 
as  psychical  laws  are  already  correlated  with  physical 
laws;  and  thus  render  the  most  varied  phenomena  anal- 
ogous throughout  the  universe. 

Religious  analogy,  in  an  unscientific  form,  dates  from 
very  ancient  times.  As  artlessly  practised,  it  might  be 
claimed  for  some  of  the  Psalms  of  David  and  the  Prov- 
erbs of  Solomon,  as  well  as  the  Parables  of  our  Loid. 
As  a  philosophical  method  its  first  crude  attempt  may 
be  discerned  in  the  scriptural  allegories  of  the  Greek 
Church  fathers  concerning  the  works  of  Creation.  Ori- 
gen,  for  example,  sagaciously  remarked  that  one  miglit 
well  expect  to  find  the  like  difficulties  in  Scripture  and 
Nature,  if  both  have  proceeded  from  the  same  author. 
12 


17S         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  nELlGION 

The  later  schoolmen,  also,  sought  for  endless  corre- 
spondences between  the  two  volumes  of  Creation  and 
Revelation.  AYith  the  rise  of  the  inductive  method, 
devout  naturalists  began  to  unfold  the  analogical  argu- 
ment for  theism  in  the  physical  sciences.  But  it  was 
reserved  for  Bishop  Butler  to  pursue  that  argument 
with  logical  precision  and  fulness  throughout  the  entire 
realm  of  the  sciences,  psychical  as  well  as  physical. 
Starting  with  the  current  theism  of  his  day,  he  essayed 
to  bring  the  whole  system  of  natural  religion  into  log- 
ical correspondence  with  the  known  constitution  and 
course  of  nature,  rendering  the  doctrine  of  a  divine  gov- 
ernment, future  state,  and  present  probation  as  sci- 
entifically probable  as  received  theories  in  physics, 
physiology,  and  ethics.  Then,  advancing  from  these 
premises,  he  proceeded  in  like  manner  to  bring  the 
whole  scheme  of  revealed  religion  into  analogy  with  the 
constitution  and  course  of  humanity,  exhibiting  the 
peculiar  doctrines  of  sin  and  redemption  as  but  tlie  log- 
ical sequel  and  complement  of  the  whole  previous  argu- 
ment. At  length,  having  thus  unfolded  a  harmonious 
system  of  nature  and  religion,  by  the  same  analogical 
reasoning  he  indicated  its  cumulative  evidences  as  not 
less  obligatory  in  ethics  than  conclusive  in  philosophy. 
The  superiority  of  religious  analogy  may  be  shown 
by  comparing  it  with  mere  religious  speculation  upon 
the  origin  and  object  of  the  universe.  In  regard  to  the 
origin  of  the  imiverse,  there  have  been  endless  attempts 
to  build  the  world  upon  hypothesis,  uj^on  assumed 
principles,  which  are  themselves  false  or,  if  true,  are 
misapplied  in  defiance,  sometimes  in  ignorance,  of  the 
actual  structure  and  course  of  nature.  From  the  time 
that  Descartes  endeavored  to  show  how  God  might  have 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     179 

made  the  world  out  of  vortices,  the  history  of  philoso- 
phy has  been  filled  with  nebulous  cosmogonies  and  ideal 
universes,  mere  creations  of  fancy,  vanishing  one  after 
another  like  brilliant  bubbles  amid  the  solid  pyramids 
of  our  empirical  knowledge.  In  place  of  such  hypo- 
thetical constructions,  Analogy  takes  the  world  as  it 
finds  it,  combines  reasoning  with  observation,  proceeds 
from  facts  to  principles,  and  from  that  portion  of  the 
divine  government  which  is  near  and  visible  infers  that 
which  is  remote  in  space  or  time.  Instead  of  receding 
from  religion  to  nature,  it  would  advance  from  nature 
to  religion,  as  Laplace  advanced  from  the  terrestrial  to 
the  celestial  mechanics,  as  Bunsen  advanced  from  the 
terrestrial  to  the  celestial  chemistry,  as  Chalmers  ad- 
vanced from  the  terrestrial  to  the  celestial  ethics,  and 
as  Butler,  before  them  all,  advanced  from  the  knoAvn 
scheme  of  creation  to  the  revealed  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion. 

There  has  also  been  much  religious  speculation  upon 
the  object  or  design  of  the  universe,  with  which  religious 
analogy  stands  in  contrast.  Ever  since  Leibnitz  set  the 
fashion  in  his  "  Theodicy,"  philosophers  have  been  busy 
imagining  a  world  better  or  worse  than  the  world  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  and  thus  charging  upon  the 
Creator  an  optimism  or  a  pessimism  alike  inconsistent 
with  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  His  creatures.  Butler 
declares  that  we  have  no  faculties  for  this  kind  of  spec- 
ulation ;  that  if  we  should  take  the  happiness  or  virtue 
of  creatures  to  have  been  the  worthy  end  of  their  crea- 
tion, we  could  not  imagine  either  attained  without  the 
other ;  that  if  we  should  assume  both  ends  to  have  been 
included  in  the  plan  of  a  wise  and  good  Creator,  we 
could  form  no  judgment  as  to  the  fittest  means  for  ac- 


180         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

complisliing  such  ends ;  in  short  that  the  best  world 
which  the  wisest  man  might  devise  would  be  full  of 
absurdities  and  miseries  not  found  in  the  world  which 
exists  and  with  which  alone  we  have  to  do. 

Having  thus  defined  Analogy  as  applicable  to  relig- 
ious problems,  and  shown  the  superiority  of  such  Eelig- 
ious  Analogy  to  all  forms  of  religious  speculation  which 
would  desert  the  actual  world  as  we  find  it,  and  wander 
off  into  vague  imaginations  concerning  the  origin  and 
object  of  the  infinite  universe,  and  having  used  it 
strictly  throughout  his  treatise,  he  finally  defends  it 
from  those  who  would  object  to  it  as  meagre,  incon- 
clusive, and  unsatisfactory^ 

Naively,  without  pretence  of  logical  terms  and 
methods  (for  logic  had  not  been  perfected  in  his  day), 
Butler  has  originated  a  definition  and  use  of  what  is 
now  called  inductive  logic,  within  the  religious  domain 
of  philosophy,  which  after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  and 
sixty  years,  remains  unimpaired  and  imsurpassed. 

The  Frohlems  of  Christian  Evidence, 

His  third  service  relates  to  the  problems  of  apologet- 
ics. Besides  seeking  probable  evidence  by  analogical 
reasoning,  we  need  to  take  up  the  problems  of  religion 
in  their  due  logical  order  and  connection.  Otherwise 
we  shall  ever  be  going  back  upon  our  own  path  to 
prove  over  again  what  we  have  assumed  as  proved,  or 
perpetually  tearing  up  the  foundations  while  building 
the  superstructure  of  our  argument.  Many  an  objec- 
tion has  been  fancied  to  exist  on  one  page  of  Butler, 
which  has  been  found  answered  on  another  page  before 
or  after  it.     He  has  pirecluded  such  criticism  by  the 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     181 

exact  method  with  which  he  arranged  and  treated  the 
entire  series  of  actual  and  possible  problems  of  re- 
ligion. 

In  the  first  place,  he  has  clearly  distinguished  the 
empirical  or  inductive  problems  from  the  metaphysical ; 
those  which  emerge  in  the  region  of  fact  and  experi- 
ence from  those  which  lie  largely  in  the  region  of 
thought  and  speculation.  He  has  even  relegated  some 
of  the  latter  to  an  Appendix  of  Dissertations  on  Per- 
sonal Identity  and  the  Nature  of  Virtue.  He  has  made 
the  distinction  so  sharp  that  much  of  his  reasoning  holds 
equally  with  an  atheist  or  a  theist,  a  materialist  or  a 
spiritualist,  a  fatalist  or  a  libertarian,  a  deist  or  a  Chris- 
tian, an  infidel  agnostic  or  a  Christian  gnostic.  And 
he  has  thus  kept  for  himself  a  pathway  clear  and  firm 
through  the  regions  of  probable  evidence. 

In  the  second  place,  he  has  taken  up  the  inductive 
problems  in  a  series,  each  problem  preceding  and  sup- 
porting the  next  following  :  the  problem  of  theism  pre- 
ceding and  supporting  the  problems  of  all  religion  ;  the 
problem  of  a  future  life  preceding  and  supporting  the 
problem  of  a  divine  government ;  the  problem  of  a  rev- 
elation in  general  preceding  and  supporting  the  prob- 
lem of  the  Christian  revelation  in  particular — and  so  on, 
in  one  concatenated  course  of  reasoning. 

Had  he  been  versed  in  the  distinctions  of  modern 
metaphysics  and  the  rules  of  strict  logic,  he  could  not 
have  projected  more  clearly  and  fully  the  problems  of 
apologetics,  through  all  coming  time  and  all  possible 
stages  of  intellectual  progress. 


182         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 


The  New  Scientific  Evidence, 

His  fourth  and  crowning  service  relates  to  the  new 
scientific  evidence  beginning  to  appear  in  our  day.  As 
every  age  has  its  own  form  of  incredulity,  so  it  has  its 
peculiar  form  of  evidence  growing  out  of  the  conflict  of 
Christianity  with  such  incredulity.  The  conflicts  of 
Christianity  in  past  ages  with  Judaism,  with  Paganism, 
wdtli  Greek  Philosophy,  with  Northern  Barbarism,  with 
Mohammedanism,  wdth  modern  Rationalism,  have 
yielded  vast  masses  of  evidence,  much  of  which  is  still 
extant  and  influential,  but  some  has  already  been  stored 
away  as  antique  trophies  in  the  arsenal  of  Christian 
Apologetics.  Now,  in  the  present  age  of  science,  the 
so-called  conflict  of  religion  with  science,  as  it  issues  in 
their  growing  harmony,  is  yielding  a  ncAv  class  of  scien- 
tific evidences  of  Christianity  to  be  added  to  the  mirac- 
ulous, the  prophetic,  the  historical  evidences  of  former 
ages.  To  this  new  class  of  evidence  Butler  has  led  the 
way  as  a  forerunner  and  even  as  a  master  builder. 

First.  He  has  conceived  religious  problems  in  a  thor- 
oughly scientific  spirit.  Though  living  at  the  dawn  of 
that  scientific  age  which  is  shedding  upon  us  its  meri- 
dian light,  he  imbibed  its  method  and  committed  him- 
self, albeit  unconsciously,  to  its  inductive  process  in  the 
sphere  of  religion,  as  Bacon  did  in  the  sphere  of  nature. 
Like  Bacon  he  announced  his  intention  to  study  "  the 
conduct  of  nature  with  respect  to  intelligent  creatures  ; 
which  may  be  resolved  into  general  laws  or  rules  of  ad- 
ministration, in  the  same  way  as  many  of  the  laws  of 
nature  respecting  inanimate  matter  may  be  collected 
from  experiments."     And  the  pages  of  Bacon  do  not 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     183 

afford  a  more  scientific  conception  of  the  course  of  nat- 
ure as  governed  by  general  laws,  ascertained  and  yet 
ascertainable,  than  do  Butler's  chapters  on  the  schemes 
of  nature  and  of  Christianity. 

Second.  He  has  treated  religious  problems,  if  implic- 
itly, yet  in  a  most  scientific  manner  by  applying  to  them 
the  inductive  logic.  Though  never  using  the  technical 
terms  of  science,  he  has  in  fact  discussed  the  questions 
of  immortality,  divine  government,  and  probation  as 
questions  of  physiology  and  psychology,  of  ethical  and 
social  science.  A  few  devout  naturalists  had  begun  to 
unfold  the  analogical  argument  in  the  physical  sci- 
ences ;  but  it  Avas  reserved  for  Butler  to  pursue  that 
argument  with  logical  precision  and  fulness  through- 
out the  entire  series  of  sciences,  mental  as  well  as 
jihysical. 

Third.  B}^  establishing  the  analogy  of  nature  and  re- 
ligion he  has  laid  a  logical  foundation  for  the  harmony 
of  science  and  revelation  considered  as  the  human  and 
divine  factors  in  producing  our  knowledge.  The  sec- 
ond part  of  his  treatise  is  pregnant  with  principles  of 
biblical  criticism  yet  to  be  developed  and  applied  to 
the  problems  emerging  between  science  and  the  Bible. 
For  example,  the  primary  principle  that  Scripture, 
though  non-scientific,  is  not  anti-scientific ;  that  it 
neither  teaches  science  nor  anything  contrar}^  to  sci- 
ence ;  that  its  popular  and  phenomenalistic  language, 
whether  in  the  sphere  of  theology  and  ethics  or  in  the 
sphere  of  astronomy  and  physics,  cannot  impair  its  re- 
vealed truth  when  fully  ascertained — this  principle  has 
been  set  forth  with  as  much  clearness  as  caution — 

"And  therefore,  neither  obtscnrity,  nor  seeming  inaccuraey 
of  fctyle,  nor  various  readingfr;,  nor  early  disputes  about  the 


184         EVIDENCES  OF  llEVEALED  RELIGION 

authors  of  poetical  parts,  nor  any  other  things  of  the  Uke 
kind,  though  they  have  been  much  more  considerable  in  de- 
gree than  they  are,  could  overthrow  the  authority  of  the 
Scriptures ;  unless  the  Prophets,  Apostles  or  our  Lord  had 
promised  that  the  book  containing  the  Divine  revelation 
should  be  secure  from  those  things." 

Again,  the  priuciple  that  the  so-called  coiillict  of  re^ 
ligion  aud  science  is  only  a  conflict  of  the  dogmas  of  the 
one  with  the  hypotheses  of  the  other ;  that  our  knowl- 
edge of  Scripture  may  still  be  as  imperfect  as  our 
knowledge  of  nature  ;  and  that  we  must  look  for  their 
growing  harmony  in  their  gradual  completion  —  this 
momentous  principle  is  set  forth  with  as  much  courage 
as  clearness — 

"  As  the  whole  scheme  of  Scripture  is  not  yet  understood,  so 
if  it  ever  comes  to  be  understood,  before  the  restitution  of  all 
tilings,  and  without  miraculous  interpositions,  it  must  be  in 
the  same  way  as  natural  knoAvledge  is  come  at — by  the  prog- 
r(»ys  of  learning  and  liberty.  .  .  .  Nor  is  it  at  all  incredi- 
ble that  a  book  which  has  been  so  long  in  the  possession  of 
mankind  should  contain  many  truths  as  yet  undiscovered. 
For,  all  the  same  phenomena,  and  the  same  faculties  of  in- 
vestigation from  which  such  great  discoveries  in  natural 
knowledge  have  been  made  in  the  present  and  last  age,  were 
(Mjually  in  the  possession  of  mankind,  several  thousand  years 
before.  And  possibly  it  might  be  intended  that  events  as 
they  come  to  pass,  should  open  and  ascertain  the  several 
parts  of  Scripture." 

Once  more,  the  principle  that  in  the  sphere  of  revela- 
tion, as  in  the  sphere  of  science,  we  must  accept  facts  as 
we  find  them,  whether  we  like  them  or  not,  and  that  we 
c.in  no  more  object  to  the  revealed  system  than  to  the 
bular  sj'Stem,  on  d  prwrl  grounds — this  scientific  prin- 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     185 

ciple  of  Christian  evidence  has  been  enjoined  with  dis- 
criminating rigor : 

"  Though  objections  against  the  reasonableness  of  the  sys- 
tem of  religion  cannot  indeed  be  answered  without  entering 
into  consideration  of  its  reasonableness  ;  Yet  objections 
against  the  credibility  or  truth  of  it  may.  Because  the  sys- 
tem of  it  is  reducible  into  what  is  properly  matter-of-fact ; 
and  the  truth,  the  probable  truth  of  facts  may  be  shown  with- 
out consideration  of  their  reasonableness." 

•*And  therefore,  though  objections  against  the  evidence 
of  Christianity  are  most  seriously  to  be  considered,  yet  ob- 
jections against  Christianity  are,  in  a  great  measure,  frivo- 
lous." 

"But  this  is  urged,  as  I  lioi)e  it  will  be  understood,  with 
great  caution  of  not  vilifying  the  faculty  of  reason,  which  is 
the  candle  of  the  Lord  within  us  ;  though  it  can  afford  no 
light  where  it  does  not  shine  ;  nor  judge  where  it  has  no  prin- 
ciple to  judge  upon." 

Fourth.  He  has  given  prescient  hints,  albeit  unwit- 
tingly, of  a  coming  harmony  of  science  and  religion  and 
consequent  growing  proof  of  Christianity.  They  lie 
scattered  through  his  work,  like  chiselled  stones  yet  to 
be  set  in  the  temple  of  knowledge.  They  may  be 
found  in  the  region  of  every  science.  In  astronomy,  he 
has  remarked  upon  the  scientific  exactness  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  heavenly  bodies  as  compared  with  our 
knowledge  of  our  own  bodies.  In  geology,  he  hinted  at 
a  predominance  of  brute  creatures  in  some  other  globe 
which  we  now  know  existed  in  our  own  globe  during 
its  prehistoric  period.  In  biology,  a  hundred  years  ago 
he  discerned  that  law  of  development  throughout  living 
nature  evolving  embryos  into  animals,  even  animals  into 
moral  agents,  Avhich  evolutionists  are  now  verifying. 
In  psychology  he  traced  the  mental  habits  and  moral 


186         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

affections  with  a  precision  which  has  not  since  been 
surpassed.  In  sociology,  he  projected  on  an  inductive 
basis  that  ideal  reign  of  virtue  of  which  speculative 
philanthropists  are  still  dreaming.  In  theology,  the 
science  of  religions,  he  has  exhibited  that  consensus 
and  dissensus  of  revealed  religion  with  all  natural  relig- 
ions, which  divines  and  pliiloso[)liers  are  only  begin- 
ning to  apprehend.  There  is  scarcely  a  great  scientist 
with  whom  he  might  not  be  compared  in  scientific 
rigor.  Newton  did  not  more  inductively  argue  from 
the  analogy  of  the  falling  bodies  to  the  law  of  universal 
gravitation  than  did  Butler  from  the  inherent  preva- 
lence of  virtue  over  vice  to  a  universal  law  of  rectitude. 
Darwin  did  not  more  cautiously  trace  the  combined 
effect  of  organism  and  environment  in  the  past  evolu- 
tion of  animal  species  than  did  Butler  the  correlation 
of  character  and  condition  in  the  moral  education  of  the 
immortal  spirit.  Huxley  has  not  more  strenuously 
maintained  a  strict  necessitarianism  in  the  laws  of  nat- 
ure than  has  Butler  striven  to  reconcile  such  necessita- 
rianism with  the  obligations  of  religion.  A  few  years 
since  Tyndall  delighted  the  scientific  world  by  depict- 
ing the  whole  course  of  nature,  strata,  flone,  faunse, 
human  races,  all  as  the  orderly  evolution  of  a  fiery 
cloud  ;  but  Butler  long  ago  proclaimed  from  the  height 
of  his  great  argument  that  the  whole  course  of  Chris- 
tianity itself,  from  its  genesis  to  its  apocalypse,  may 
appear  in  the  view  of  superior  intelligences  but  one 
majestic  unfolding  of  divine  wisdom  as  much  regulated 
by  general  laws  as  the  roll  of  the  seasons  or  the  growth 
of  a  flower.  In  a  word,  the  system  of  religion  as  con- 
ceived and  indicated  l)y  him  is  as  thoroughly  scientific 
both  in  its  outline  and  in  its  c^  idence  as  the  Coper- 


BISHOP  BUTLER  ON  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCES     187 

nican  system  of  astronomy  or  any  other  theory  of  exact 
science. 

Lastly,  besides  thus  exhibiting  Christian  evidence  as 
scientific  evidence,  Butler,  building  better  than  he 
knew,  has  constructed  a  substantial  portion  of  Philos- 
ophy itself,  considered  as  the  science  of  knoAvledge  or 
the  science  of  the  sciences.  His  Analogy  serves  as  a 
logical  buttress  on  the  religious  side  of  philosophy  cor- 
responding to  the  Organum  of  Bacon  on  the  physical 
side  of  philosophy.  Yiewed  together  they  are  opposite 
segments  of  that  ascending  arch  of  human  and  divine 
knowledge,  whose  keystone  is  yet  to  support  the  Cross 
as  at  once  the  consummation  of  philosophy  and  the 
full  illustration  of  Christianity. 


VII 

THE  ALLEGED   SCIENTIFIC  ERRORS   OF  THE  BIBLE 

At  the  threshold  of  the  scientific  evidences  we  meet 
the  general  question,  Does  the  Bible  contain  scientific 
errors?  The  question  may  be  treated  mainly  as  a  phil- 
osophical question,  in  its  bearings  upon  science  as  well 
as  upon  religion.  Unhappily,  it  has  become  mixed  with 
several  side  issues,  which  should  be  detached  from  it 
and  thrown  out  of  the  discussion.  As  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sented here,  it  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  current 
disputes  in  difterent  churches,  or  with  the  definition  of 
any  type  of  orthodoxy,  or  even  with  the  formal  vindi- 
cation of  Christianity  itself.  These  are  important  issues 
in  their  own  time  and  place.  But  there  is  a  larger,  if 
not  higher,  view  of  the  main  issue  which  they  involve, 
and  which  they  may  even  hide  from  our  sight.  All 
schools  of  philosophy,  as  well  as  all  churches  and  de- 
nominations, have  a  common  interest  in  inquiring 
whether  the  Bible  can  yield  us  any  real  knowledge 
within  the  domain  of  the  various  sciences.  Indeed,  all 
men  everywhere  will  become  practically  concerned  in 
that  inquiry,  if  the  oldest  and  most  highly  prized  book 
in  the  world  is  now  to  be  set  aside  as  a  mixture  of 
truth  and  error,  obsolete  in  science,  if  not  also  in 
morals  and  religion,  and  of  little  further  use  in  the 
progress  of  civilization. 

The  way  to  the  question  should  be  cleared  by  several 

188 


ALLEGET)  EUHORf!  OF  TEE  BIBLE  189 

distinctions  and  admissions.  Let  us  first  distingnisli  , 
mere  literary  imperfections  from  scientific  errors,  and  | 
frankly  admit  the  existence  of  the  former  in  the  inspired  ' 
authors.  They  were  not  trained  rhetoricians  or  even 
practised  writers.  They  show  the  greatest  variety  of 
culture  and  of  style.  The  rugged  simplicity  of  the 
prophet  is  in  contrast  with  the  refined  parallelism  of  the 
Psalmist.  The  evangelists  did  not  write  pure  Greek. 
It  has  been  said  it  would  be  difficult  to  parse  some  of 
the  sentences  of  St.  Paul.  Many  of  the  Old  Testament 
metaphors  seem  gross  to  modern  taste,  and  there  are 
certain  didactic  portions  of  Leviticus  which  are  too 
natural  to  be  read  in  public  worship.  Nevertheless,  to 
reject  the  teaching  of  inspired  writers  on  such  aesthetic 
grounds  would  be  like  denying  the  mathematics  of  the 
"  Priucipia"  because  Newton  wrote  bad  Latin,  or  repu- 
diating some  medical  classic  as  unfit  for  the  drawing- 
room.  The  literary  blemishes  of  Holy  Scripture,  as 
seen  by  fastidious  critics,  do  not  touch  its  revealed  con- 
tent or  divine  purport,  but  may  even  heighten  it  by  the 
force  of  contrast. 

We  may  also  distinguish  and  admit  certain  historio- 
graphical  defects  in  the  inspired  authors.  The  prophets 
and  evangelists  were  not  versed  in  the  art  of  historiog- 
raphy, and  did  not  write  history  philosophically  nor 
even  always  chronologically.  Their  narratives  have 
many  seeming  discrepancies  as  to  events,  dates,  places, 
names,  and  figures.  The  line  of  the  patriarchs  is  yet 
to  be  traced,  amid  conflicting  chronologies,  with  his- 
torical accuracy.  Persons  and  events  do  not  always 
appear  to  synchronize ;  as  when  it  is  stated  in  the  Book 
of  Kings  that  Ahaziah  was  forty  years  old  on  coming 
to  the  throne,  and  in  Chronicles  that  he  was  twenty- 


190         EVTDEI^CES  OF  BETEALED  nELIOIOW 

two  years  old.  The  Evangelists  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke  tell  the  story  of  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  with  dif- 
fering motives  and  details  which  have  not  yet  been  fully 
harmonized.  Such  things  are  simply  unavoidable  in  all 
historical  composition.  At  the  present  date  of  anti- 
quarian research,  neither  the  dynasties  of  the  Pharaohs, 
nor  of  the  Cgesars,  nor  even  of  the  Popes  have  been 
clearly  ascertained.  No  one  can  read  Bossuet's  "  Uni- 
versal History,"  or  even  Bancroft's  "History  of  the 
United  States,"  without  losing  himself  in  chronological 
puzzles.  The  English  historians  Clarendon,  Neal,  and 
Burnett  narrate  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  with  sub- 
stantial agreement,  but  from  the  most  varied  dogmatic 
points  of  view.  There  are  obvious  misprints  in  some 
editions  of  Hallam's  "  Constitutional  History,"  which 
could  not  have  been  in  his  manuscript.  There  may  be 
trifling  mistakes  in  some  English  translations  of  Nean- 
der's  "  Church  History,"  which  are  not  in  the  German, 
as  well  as  grave  misconceptions  in  some  of  his  critics, 
Avliich  are  neither  in  the  English  nor  in  the  German. 
In  like  manner,  as  to  any  supposed  inaccuracies  in  the 
Chronicles  and  the  Gospels,  the  fair  presumption  is 
that  they  are  not  errors  of  the  inspired  text,  but  mere 
errors  of  transcription,  or  errors  of  translation,  or  errors 
of  interpretation,  or,  simply,  still  unexplained  difficulties. 
It  is  the  business  of  historical  criticism  to  harmonize 
standard  historians,  not  to  impeach  them ;  and  thus 
far  such  criticism,  as  applied  to  the  sacred  historians, 
instead  of  impugning  the  scientific  accuracy  of  Holy 
Scripture,  has  only  confirmed  it  by  unexpected  coinci- 
dences and  ever-growing  certitude. 

We  should  still  further  distinguish  some  traditional 
glosses  in  the  inspired  writings.     The   original   auto- 


ALLEGED   ERUOR^  OF  THE  BTRLE  191 

graphs,  and  their  first  transcripts,  have  long  since  been 
lost,  and  our  existing  text  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek 
mnst  have  become  corrupt  through  the  negligence  or 
design  of  copyists  and  editors.  Even  the  vowels,  points, 
accents,  spaces,  verses,  and  chapters,  which  have  been 
added  as  aids  to  the  sense,  have  also  proved  a  source  of 
faults  and  mistakes,  especially  in  the  numeral  letters. 
The  Book  of  Samuel  is  made  to  say  that  the  Lord 
smote  fifty  thousand  men  in  a  village  of  less  than  five 
thousand  inhabitants  ;  and  the  Chronicles  seem  to  state 
that  King  Jehosaphat  raised  more  than  a  million  fight- 
ing men  out  of  a  district  not  half  as  large  as  Rhode 
Island.  King  David  is  said  to  have  saved  more  silver 
coin  for  the  decoration  of  the  temple  than  could  have 
been  in  circulation.  The  Trinitarian  proof-text,  "There 
are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,"  seems  to  have 
been  interpolated  in  some  late  manuscripts  for  a  pur- 
pose. It  is  even  alleged  that  there  are  spurious  claims 
of  authorship  in  the  titles  and  contents  of  the  sacred 
books.  David,  we  know,  did  not  write  all  the  Psalms; 
and  we  are  now  told  that  Moses  did  not  write  the  Pen- 
tateuch, nor  Isaiah  the  whole  Book  of  Isaiah.  In 
short,  the  entire  Bible  gives  internal  evidence,  it  is 
claimed,  of  anonymous  fragments  compiled  by  unknown 
liands.  References  are  made  in  it  to  lost  documents, 
such  as  the  books  of  Jasher,  Nathan,  and  Gad,  the  Wars 
of  Jehovah,  and  the  Visions  of  Iddo.  There  are  two 
accounts  of  the  creation,  two  versions  of  the  command- 
ments, three  distinct  codes  in  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and 
Deuteronomy,  besides  any  number  of  parallel,  detached, 
and  repeated  passages  throughout  the  Scriptures,  sug- 
gesting to  some  critics  a  mere  patchwork  of  loose  chroni- 
cles, proverbs,  psalms,  proi^hecies,  gospels,  and  epistles. 


192         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIOIOK 

Certainly  all  these  plienomeua  have  been  common 
enough  in  secular  literature.  The  Greek  and  Latin 
classics,  and  even  standard  English  authors,  are  marred 
with  textual  corruptions,  such  as  the  loss  or  change  of  a 
word  or  letter,  or  even  part  of  a  letter,  sometimes  run- 
ning a  single  number  up  into  the  thousands,  and  some- 
times reversing  the  meaning  of  a  whole  sentence  or 
turning  it  into  nonsense.  The  text  of  Xenophon  is  full 
of  them.  The  Epistles  of  Cicero  have  them  by  the 
hundred.  The  single  play  of  Hamlet  fills  two  large 
octavos  of  the  Yariorui>;i  edition  of  Furness.  There 
have  also  been  some  pseudographs  more  or  less  inno- 
cent. The  antique  manuscripts  of  Chatterton  deceived 
the  practised  eye  of  Walpole.  Literary  critics  of  the 
last  century  eagerly  discussed  the  question  whether  the 
poems  of  Ossian  had  not  been  forged  by  their  professed 
editor,  James  McPherson.  It  was  long  a  moot  point 
who  wrote  the  letters  of  Junius.  Moreover,  we  have  had 
fine  examples  of  literary  compilation  and  reproduction 
without  a  taint  of  forgery  or  plagiarism.  Froissart's 
"  Chronicles  of  Knights,  Kings,  and  Fair  Women " 
were  personally  collected  by  him  in  France,  England, 
Scotland,  and  Spain,  and  inscribed  upon  illuminated 
parchments,  which  are  still  extant.  Bishop  Percy,  the 
accomplished  redacteur  of  the  "Reliques  of  Ancient 
English  Poetry,"  not  only  recovered  many  manuscript 
ballads,  but  by  his  skilful  emendations  of  them  adapted 
them  to  modern  taste  and  fancy.  The  materials  of  Frois- 
sart  and  Percy  were  at  length  wrought,  by  the  masterly 
pen  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  into  poems  and  novels  which 
are  read  wherever  the  English  tongue  is  spoken.  And 
if  eTudge  Holmes  or  Mr.  Ignatius  Donnelly  could  prove 
that  Shakespeare  did  not  write  "  Shakespeare,"  but  only 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  193 

recast  and  arranged  the  tragedies,  histories,  and  com- 
edies which  bear  his  name,  that  incomparable  book,  with 
all  its  archaisms,  anachronisms,  and  solecisms,  would  re- 
main the  masterpiece  of  genius  that  it  is,  and  men  might 
still  quote  Shakespeare,  as  John  Randolph  used  to  saj, 
"  to  prove  anything  worth  proving." 

Perhaps,  also,  the  Bible  might  be  the  Bible  still  in  its 
most  essential  import,  although  its  long-reputed  author- 
ship should  now  be  discredited.  It  may  be  conceivable 
that  such  a  Bible  could  have  survived  its  own  literary 
errors  as  a  trophy  of  the  most  devout  scholarship.  But 
if  quite  conceivable,  it  is  not  yet  certain,  nor  very  prolj- 
able.  The  plain  statements  of  the  inspired  writers 
themselves,  their  apparent  indorsement  by  our  Lord  and 
his  apostles,  and  the  consistent  tradition  of  three  thou- 
sand years,  still  stand  opposed  to  the  conjectures  of 
learned  criticism.  And  such  conjectures  are  not  sus- 
tained by  all  the  literary  precedents  and  analogies.  The 
title  of  a  famous  author,  like  Homer  or  Shakespeare, 
represents  the  judgment  of  his  nearest  contemporaries 
and  successors,  and  grows  with  the  lapse  of  time  until 
it  becomes  too  certain  to  be  easily  set  aside. 

Such  claims  for  Moses  and  Isaiah  were  not  even  ques- 
tioned during  more  than  twenty  centuries.  It  wouhl 
seem  rather  late  now  to  overthrow  all  this  external  tes- 
timony by  mere  internal  criticism  of  their  accepted  writ- 
ings. Any  traces  of  compilation  in  the  sacred  books 
need  conflict  as  little  with  their  received  authorship  as 
the  like  use  of  documents  and  fragments  in  acknowl- 
edged works  of  genius.  It  is  as  easy  to  conceive  that 
Moses  could  compose  or  compile  the  Elohistic  and  Je- 
hovistic  records  of  Genesis  with  their  different  names 
of  God,  as  that  Shakespeare  composed  or  compiled  both 
13 


194         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  EELIGION 

"King  Lear"  and  "  Kichard  III.,"  though  the  former, 
quite  consistently,  has  only  the  pagan  names  of  Jupiter, 
while  the  latter  is  full  of  the  Christian  names  of  our 
Lord.  As  yet,  there  is  no  more  critical  demand  for  two 
Isaiahs  in  the  Isaianic  prophecies  than  for  a  dozen  Ho- 
mers in  the  Homeric  poems.  In  fact,  the  sacred  writers 
are  not  half  as  fragmentary  and  composite  as  well-known 
English  historians,  poets,  and  philosophers.  Nor  do 
marks  of  editorship  always  weaken  the  genuineness  and 
integrity  of  a  standard  treatise.  The  postscript  of 
Joshua,  at  the  close  of  the  Pentateuch,  concerning  the 
death  of  Moses  may  have  been  read  by  the  ancient  He- 
brew as  we  now  read  a  biographical  note  to  the  works 
of  Bacon.  Passing  allusions  to  other  books  of  Kings 
and  Chronicles  may  have  seemed  like  the  conscien- 
tious references  of  a  Hume,  a  Prescott,  or  a  Motley  to 
well-known  official  records ;  and  explanatory  remarks 
and  parenthetical  hints,  easily  distinguishable  by  their 
connection,  may  have  been  like  helpful  annotations  upon 
the  text  of  a  Milton  or  a  Butler,  with  the  difference  that, 
in  Hebrew  manuscripts,  they  could  not  be  put  within 
brackets  or  in  the  margin.  Indeed,  a  competent  editor, 
like  Ezra  the  scribe,  might  canonize  otherwise  unknown 
writers,  as  a  Niebuhr  or  a  Grote  could  sift  crude  annals 
and  sanction  the  most  obscure  authors,  or  as  some  rare 
genius  might  detect  for  us  the  apocrypha  of  Shakespeare. 
Not  even  such  tell-tale  signs  as  new  words,  late  idioms, 
or  local  phrases  could  wholly  discredit  a  renowned  au- 
thor whose  writings  have  come  down  to  us  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  language  and  literature.  The  several 
codes  of  Moses,  if  framed  before  the  conquest  of  Canaan, 
would  have  been  no  more  ideal  than  the  "  Kepublic  "  of 
Plato ;  and  any  later  Hebraisms  or  Chaldseisms  appear- 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  195 

ing  among  them  since  the  Babylonian  exile  need  be  no 
more  puzzling  than  Anglicisms  or  Americanisms  among 
the  feudal  forms  and  Norman  phrases  of  a  recent  edition 
of  Blackstone.     If  the  first  and  second  parts  of  Isaiah 
are  in  any  sense  prophetic,  to  refer  them  to  different  au- 
thors at  different  periods,  merely  because  of  differences 
of  theme,  style,  and  diction,  would  be  like  assigning  a 
double  authorship  to  "  Paradise  Lost  "  and  "  Paradise 
Regained;"   or  arguing  from  a  modernized  version  of 
Cliaucer  that  he  could  not  have  written  the  ''  Canterbury 
Tales  ;  "  or  claiming  "  Cliilde  Harold  "  as  an  Elizabeth- 
an poem  because  of  its  few  archaisms  and  Spenserian 
stanza.      In  all  Hebrew  literature,  early,  middle,  and 
recent,  there  is  no  stumbling-block  like  that  of  Lord 
Tennyson  singing  in  the  Yorkshire  dialect  as  well  as  in 
the  purest  English.     Sometimes  the  feats  of  genius  may 
perplex  us  even  more  than  the  marvels  of  inspiration. 
Besides,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  while  the  Bible 
is  literature,  and  very  good  literature,  yet  it  is  not  to 
be  treated  as  uninspired  literature,  and  judged  by  mere 
aesthetic  rules  alone,  much  less  classed  with  the  pseu- 
donymous fragments  which  have  become  the  puzzle  and 
the  scandal  of  critics.     More  than  forty  years  ago  that 
prince  of  biblical  scholars,  Joseph  Addison  Alexander, 
thought   that   such   treatment   of  Isaiah   had   already 
reached  its  limit,  with  the  promise  of  "  no  further  in- 
vention, unless  it  be  that  of  reading  the  book  backward 
or  shuffling  its  chapters  like  a  pack  of  cards."     The 
higher  criticism  may  have  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights, 
and  it  is  not  one  of  its  rights  to  impose  mere  specula- 
tive conclusions  upon  us  as  scientific  verities.     Without 
at  all  undervaluing  any  of  its  assured  results,  we  may 
still  hope,  as  we  watch  the  brilliant  tournament  of  learn- 


196         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIGIOI^ 

ing  and  genius,  that  tlie  combatants  will  at  length  fight 
their  way  around  the  field  of  conjecture  back  to  the  tra- 
ditional belief  from  which  they  started,  and  which  is 
still  the  common-sense  judgment  of  mankind.  That 
judgment  is,  that  if  there  be  any  evidence  at  all  of  in- 
spiration in  the  sacred  writers,  such  evidence  favors 
their  long-established  authorship  as  well  as  canonicity, 
and  their  consequent  accuracy,  no  less  than  their  verac- 
ity, as  organs  of  divine  revelation. 

We  are  now  ready  for  several  conclusions.  Neither 
the  literary  imperfections,  nor  the  historiographical  de- 
fects, nor  the  traditional  glosses  of  Holy  Scripture  can 
of  themselves,  at  their  worst,  impair  its  scientific  integ- 
rity or  philosophic  value,  if  it  have  this  value.  Such 
mere  errata  may  yet  be  corrected  or  explained,  and 
prove  in  no  sense  permanent  errors,  much  less  essential 
untruths.  They  are  wholly  superficial  and  transient, 
not  of  the  abiding  essence  of  the  revealed  Word.  They 
may,  indeed,  and  they  often  do,  raise  presumptions 
against  the  claim  of  inspiration  in  the  minds  of  hostile 
critics  ;  but  they  are  not  the  proper  pleas  of  the  friendly 
critics  who  look  for  scientific  errors  in  an  inspired 
Bible.  Such  critics  take  the  dangerous  ground  that  the 
Bible  teaches  nothing  but  religious  truth,  and  may  even 
teach  such  truth  in  connection  with  scientific  error.  This 
is  dangerous  ground  :  because  it  is  ground  lying  inside 
the  limits  of  an  accepted  revelation  ;  because  it  involves 
not  so  much  the  mere  human  form,  as  the  divine  con- 
tent, of  that  revelation ;  and  because  it  exhibits  that 
divine  content  as  an  amalgam  of  faet  and  fiction,  truth 
and  error,  knowledge  and  superstition.  It  is  dangerous 
ground,  also,  because  it  opens  the  way  for  hostile  crit- 
ics to  proceed  quite  logically  from  scientific  errors  to 


ALLEGED   ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  197 

religious  errors  iu  the  Bible,  by  arguing  that  if  it  teaches 
false  astronomy  and  crude  physics,  it  no  less  clearly 
teaches  bad  ethics  and  worse  theology.  And  it  is  dan- 
gerous ground  in  philosophy  as  well  as  in  religion,  since 
it  would  deprive  her  physical  no  less  than  her  psychical 
provinces  of  their  chief  source  of  transcendental  knowl- 
edge, and  abandon  her  whole  metaphysical  domain  to 
the  empiric,  the  agnostic,  and  the  sceptic.  Literary  and 
textual  obscurities  there  may  be  upon  the  surface  of 
Holy  AVrit,  like  spots  upon  the  sun,  or  rather  like  motes 
iu  the  eye  ;  but  scientific  errors  in  its  divine  piu'port 
would  be  the  sun  itself  extinguished  at  noon.  Such  a 
Bible  could  not  live  in  this  epoch. 

Happily,  however,  these  grave  issues  are  not  yet  upon 
us  ;  and  it  would  be  very  ignoble,  as  well  as  unwise, 
to  array  mere  prejudices  or  unacceptable  consequences 
against  an  opposing  argument,  without  squarely  facing 
its  logic. 

Tlie  Physical  TeacJmig  of  the  Bible. 

Let  us  first  clearly  distinguish  the  physical  teaching 
from  the  spiritual  teaching  of  the  Bible,  as  it  may  be 
roughly  outlined  in  its  own  language.  We  shall  find 
that  while  the  Scriptures  principally  teach  what  man 
is  to  believe  concerning  God  and  what  duty  God  re- 
quires of  man,  yet  they  secondarily  teach  some  other 
matters  of  human  interest  lying  within  the  scope  of 
science  as  well  as  religion.  In  other  words,  although 
the  Bible  mainly  traverses  the  realm  of  the  mental  and 
moral  sciences  with  its  revelations,  yet  it  also  extends 
into  the  realm  of  the  physical  sciences  and  includes 
more  or  less  of  their  ground  and  material.  Li  astron- 
omy it  teaches  that  in  the  beginning  God  created  the 


198         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

heavens  and  the  earth ;  that  wisdom  was  with  Him 
when  He  prepared  the  heavens  ;  that  by  understanding 
hath  He  established  them  and  garnished  them  by  His 
Spirit ;  that  the  heavens  declare  His  power  and  faith- 
fulness and  glory ;  that  He  is  worshipped  by  the  whole 
host  of  heaven  in  the  very  heaven  of  heavens  ;  and  that 
they  are  the  abode  of  the  Father  and  the  angels,  unto 
whom  in  all  heavenly  places  is  now  made  ImoAvn  His 
manifold  wisdom  upon  earth.  In  geology  it  teaches 
that  in  six  days  Jehovah  made  the  sky  and  land  and 
sea,  plants  and  animals  and  man,  and  saw  that  all  was 
very  good  ;  that  He  rested  on  the  seventh  day  to  make 
it  the  type  and  pledge  of  a  Sabbath  for  man  ;  that  the 
whole  earth  is  full  of  the  riches  of  His  wisdom  and 
goodness ;  that  every  rainbow  betokens  His  ordained 
succession  of  seed-time  and  harvest,  summer  and  win- 
ter, throughout  the  year ;  but  that,  nevertheless,  as  the 
earth  was  once  destroyed  by  water  on  account  of  sin, 
so  it  will  yet  be  renewed  by  fire  as  an  abode  of  right- 
eousness. In  anthropology  it  teaches  that  God  formed 
man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground  and  breathed  into 
him  a  living  soul ;  that  he  was  created  in  the  image  of 
God,  with  dominion  over  the  beasts,  but  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  in  a  state  of  innocence  ;  that  mankind 
became  so  corrupt  as  to  require  the  judgment  of  the 
flood ;  that  thereafter  ensued  different  races,  languages, 
and  arts,  with  one  peculiar  race  chosen  for  their  re- 
demption, and  that  the  degraded  humanity  of  the  First 
Adam,  of  the  earth  earthy,  is  yet  to  be  succeeded  by 
a  regenerate  humanity  of  the  Second  Adam,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,  through  the  resurrection  of  a  celestial 
body.  Without  going  on  to  cite  its  more  spiritual 
teaching  in  psychology,  in  sociology,  and  in  theology. 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  199 

and  without  answering  objections  before  we  meet  them, 
we  are  to  confine  our  attention  to  this  physical  teach- 
ing, portions  of  which  are  now  before  us,  and  to  inquire 
if  in  any  sense,  to  any  degree,  it  can  be  regarded  as 
scientifically  erroneous. 


No  Teaching  of  Scripture  Erroneous, 

Let  it  first  be  observed  that  the  general  distinction 
between  errant  and  inerrant  Scripture  is  not  made  by 
Scripture  itself.  As  a  theory  of  inspiration  it  is  mod- 
ern and  extraneous.  It  has  arisen  from  the  supposed 
need  of  adjusting  an  ancient  book  to  the  science  and 
culture  of  our  time.  Its  good  motive  is  not  to  be 
questioned  nor  can  its  plausibility  be  denied.  That 
divine  truth  should  have  been  offered  to  us  in  a  setting 
of  human  error  does  not  seem  at  first  sight  wholly  with- 
out analogy  or  precedent.  If  Nature  has  its  flaws  and 
monsters,  why  may  there  not  be  faults  and  mistakes  in 
Scripture?  If  the  development  of  science  has  been 
mixed  with  error,  Avhy  not  also  the  delivery  of  reve- 
lation ?  There  is  even  a  grain  of  force  in  such  reason- 
ing as  applied  to  any  mere  textual  or  Hterary  difticulties 
yet  to  be  removed  or  explained.  But  the  moment  it  is 
applied  to  the  sacred  authors  themselves  it  breaks 
down.  It  was  not  their  theory  of  their  own  inspiration. 
If  anything  is  plain  in  their  writings,  it  is  plain  that 
they  claim  to  be  making  divine  communications  under 
an  unerring  guidance.  Our  Saviour,  too,  sanctioned 
the  claim  in  His  own  use  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and 
renewed  it  for  the  Christian  Scriptures.  At  length  the 
apostles  went  forth  maintaining  it  amid  the  master- 
IDieces  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature.     When  St.  Paul, 


200  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIGION 

iu  au  assembly  of  Athenian  philosophers,  quotes  from 
Aratus  and  Cleanthes  sentiments  also  quoted  by  Cicero 
and  Seneca,  it  is  with  the  polite  acknoAvledgment,  "  As 
certain  of  your  own  poets  have  said,"  but  when  he 
quotes  from  Moses  a  sentiment  afterward  quoted  by 
David,  it  is  with  the  devout  preamble,  "As  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith."  Now  it  is  simply  impossible  to  associate 
such  statements  with  an  erroneous  communication  from 
God  to  man  in  any  sphere  of  truth,  physical  or  spir- 
itual. The  only  escape  from  them  is  to  except  them 
from  the  physical  sphere,  or  limit  them  to  the  spiritual 
sphere.  But  no  such  exceptions  or  limitations  can  be 
found.  As  judged  by  their  own  claims,  the  Scriptures, 
if  inerran^  at  all,  must  be  accounted  inerrant  as  to 
their  whole  revealed  content,  whatever  it  be  and  wher- 
ever found,  whether  in  the  region  of  the  natural  sci- 
ences or  in  that  of  ethics  and  theology. 

TJte  Physical  TeacJdng  Implicated  tvith  the  Spiritual. 

The  Bible  also  shows  that  its  physical  teaching  is 
implicated  with  its  spiritual  teaching  in  the  closest  log- 
ical and  practical  connections,  with  no  possible  dis- 
crimination between  the  one  as  erroneous  and  the  other 
as  true.  The  full  import  only  of  these  connections  can 
be  discerned  by  profound  study.  Ordinarily  we  lose 
sight  of  them.  We  are  so  prone  to  detach  Scripture 
from  Scripture  that  we  often  neglect  or  slight  large 
portions  which  do  not  at  once  strike  our  fancy  or  in- 
terest. We  ask,  what  is  the  use  of  Genesis,  Avith  its 
dry  genealogies,  or  Leviticus,  with  its  obsolete  rit- 
ual, or  the  Prophets,  with  their  mystical  visions  ?  Why 
read  the  Old  Testament  at  all,  when  we   have   its  ful- 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  201 

filment  in  the  New  ?  Or  why  even  take  much  thought 
of  the  Epistles,  while  we  have  their  core  in  the  Gos- 
pels ?  The  words  of  Christ  contain  the  essential  truths, 
and  these  are  so  few  that  they  may  be  read  running. 
All  the  rest  we  are  ready  to  discard  as  mere  surplusage. 
Ho  might  some  masterpiece  of  dramatic  art  seem  full  of 
irrelevant  scenes  and  dialogues  until  its  plot  has  been 
analyzed  and  its  details  tested  upon  the  stage.  The 
devout  student  of  the  Bible,  intent  on  searching  its  full 
contents,  will  soon  find  that  the  seeming  medley  is  in 
reality  a  living  organism,  with  its  nearest  spiritual 
truths  in  logical  dependence  upon  its  remotest  physical 
facts,  and  the  one  in  practical  relation  to  the  other. 
He  will  see  its  astronomical  revelation  of  a  Creator  of 
the  heavens  and  earth,  not  only  distinguishing  the  true 
Jehovah  from  the  mere  local  and  national  deities  of 
antiquity,  but  identifying  him  with  the  maker  of  suns 
and  systems  in  our  own  time,  and  thus  disclosing  the 
foundations  of  revealed,  in  all  natural,  religion,  together 
with  the  revealed  commandments  against  heathenism, 
idolatry,  and  profaneness.  He  Avill  see  the  geological 
revelation  of  the  six  days'  works,  not  merely  uphold- 
ing the  narrow  Sabbath  of  the  old  economy,  as  com- 
manded from  age  to  age,  but  projecting  the  larger  Sab- 
bath of  the  new  economy  as  yet  to  be  realized  in  the 
millennial  age  of  peace,  and  so  connecting  the  whole 
history  of  the  earth  with  the  history  of  man.  He  will 
see  the  anthropological  revelation  of  God's  lost  image 
in  man  as  at  once  demanding  and  sustaining  the  atone- 
ment and  the  incarnation,  together  with  the  whole  hu- 
man half  of  the  decalogue,  and  the  predicted  regener- 
ation of  both  earth  and  man  in  the  resurrection. 
Throughout  the  realm  of  the  sciences  he  Avill  see  the 


202         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

author  of  Scripture  revealing  himself  as  the  author  of 
Nature,  and  building  the  one  upon  the  other.  The 
whole  psychical  superstructure  of  religious  doctrines 
and  ethical  precepts  will  appear  to  him  reposing  upon 
its  physical  foundations  in  the  pre-existing  constitution 
of  nature  and  humanity.  Remove  but  one  of  those 
foundation  stones,  and  that  superstructure  will  totter. 
They  stand  or  fall  together.  Historically,  too,  as  well 
as  logically,  the  concession  of  any  scientific  error  has 
led  to  the  downfall  of  the  whole  biblical  system  of  doc- 
trine. 

The  Physical  and  Spiritual  Teaching  Alike  Non- 
scientijic. 

It  is  seldom  remarked  that  both  the  physical  and  the 
spiritual  teaching  are  alike  given  in  a  non-scientific 
form.  Often  it  is  said — and  said  truly  enough — that 
the  Bible  does  not  teach  astronomy  or  physics  as  a  sci- 
ence. But  neither  does  it  teach  theology  or  ethics  as  a 
science.  The  method  and  phrase  of  science  are  no 
more,  no  less,  w^antiug  in  its  physical  than  in  its  spirit- 
ual revelations.  If  the  former  are  presented  as  a  mere 
crude  mass  of  facts  and  truths  without  law  or  order,  so 
also  are  the  latter  ;  and  it  will  be  no  harder  to  find  the 
epochs  of  geology  in  the  first  chapter  of  "  Genesis  "  than 
the  persons  of  the  Trinity  in  the  first  chapter  of  "  St. 
John."  If  it  be  granted  that  the  physical  truths  of 
Scripture  are  couched  in  the  popular  and  phenomenal 
language  of  the  times  when  it  was  written,  so  also  are 
its  spiritual  truths  veiled  in  the  anthropomorphic  and 
even  barbaric  imagery  common  to  all  rude  peoples ;  and 
when  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  "  The  sun  knoweth  his  going 
down,"  he  is  no  worse  astronomer  than  he  is  theologian 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  203 

when  lie  declares,  "  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh  at  the  kings  of  the  earth."  If  it  be  urged  that 
we  have  left  far  behind  us  the  contemporary  astronomy 
of  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  spangled  canopy  of 
heaven  wrought  as  a  marvel  of  handiwork,  how  shall 
we  defend  its  contemporary  theology,  with  its  manlike 
deity  so  often  depicted  seemingly  as  a  monster  of  anger, 
jealousy,  and  cruel t}'.  If  we  are  told  that  we  have  out- 
grown its  physics,  Avith  their  cisterns  in  the  earth  and 
windows  in  the  sky  opened  and  shut  by  angels,  Avliat 
shall  be  said  for  its  ethics,  so  long  charged  with  polyga- 
mous patriarchs  and  pro-slavery  apostles  ?  If  we  are 
warned  against  a  few  devout  scientists  who  are  endeav- 
oring to  harmonize  their  geology  with  the  Mosaic  cos- 
mogony, is  there  to  be  no  warning  for  this  scandal  of 
great  churches  and  denominations  at  the  present  mo- 
ment adjusting  their  metaphysics  to  the  Pauline  divin- 
it}^  ?  Is  modern  theology  any  more  accordant  with 
Scripture  than  modern  geology  ?  In  short,  there  is  not 
an  objection  to  the  non-scientific  character  of  the  physi- 
cal teaching  which  will  not  recoil  with  greater  force 
against  the  spiritual  teaching.  Whoever,  for  this  rea- 
son alone,  affirms  scientific  errors  in  the  biblical  astron- 
omy and  physics,  must  be  prepared  to  admit  them  also 
in  the  biblical  theology  and  ethics. 

TJte  Fliysical  and  Spiritual  Teaching  Alike  Sincere. 

Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the  spiritual  teaching  is  any 
more  reconcilable  with  popular  fallacies  than  the  physi- 
cal teaching.  It  has  been  maintained  that  the  divine 
author  of  the  Scriptures  accommodated  them  to  the 
physical  errors  of  their  own  times,  for  the  sake  of  the 


204         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

moral  and  religious  truths  to  be  conveyed.  There  was 
no  need  to  correct  the  false  astronomy  of  the  ancient 
Jews,  so  long  as  the  phenomenal  sunrise  and  sunset 
were  still  true  for  them  and  for  their  age.  It  was  only 
important  to  give  them  true  ideas  of  God  and  duty,  and 
to  leave  them  to  their  unaided  reason  in  other  matters 
of  mere  science  and  culture.  Our  Lord  Himself  is  sup- 
posed to  have  thus  connived  at  the  story  of  Jonah,  the 
belief  in  demoniacal  possessions,  and  even  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch.  He 
did  not  come  to  teach  natural  history,  or  medical  psy- 
chology, or  the  higher  criticism.  It  was  enough  for  His 
purpose  that  He  could  make  the  entombment  in  the 
whale's  belly  prefigure  His  own  resurrection,  prove  His 
Messiahship  by  seeming  to  cast  out  devils,  and  enforce 
His  teachings  with  the  great  name  of  Moses.  But  the 
risk  of  such  reasoning  is  that  it  might  prove  too  much. 
It  might  soon  bring  down  the  maxim,  "  False  in  one 
thing,  false  in  everything  else,"  upon  the  head  of  any 
teacher  who  only  once  should  thus  deceive  his  disciples 
and  teach  them  to  deceive  others.  In  the  examples 
given,  it  would  leave  the  most  momentous  truths  rest- 
ing through  all  coming  time  upon  a  basis  of  prejudice, 
superstition,  and  falsehood.  Moreover,  it  could  be  ap- 
plied logically,  as  it  has  been  applied  actually,  to  doc- 
trines the  most  essential ;  and  in  the  end  Avould  reduce 
Christianity  to  mere  natural  religion  as  adapted  to  Juda- 
ism. It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  so-called  theory 
of  accommodation  has  thus  run  its  course  in  the  schools 
of  criticism.  Be  it  observed,  however,  that  the  theory 
itself  is  not  here  in  dispute,  for  the  purpose  of  this 
argument.  You  may  adopt  it  if  you  like  ;  and  treat 
the  history  of  Jonah  as  a  mere  nightmare  vision  with  a 


ALLEOED  ERRORS  OF  THE  RTBLE  205 

good  iiioriil,  the  demoniacs  as  cases  of  lunacy  and  delir- 
ium, and  the  literary  claim  of  Moses  as  an  old  Jewish 
legend.  But  in  that  case  you  must  be  ready  to  find 
pious  frauds  and  innocent  fables  throughout  the  Bible, 
and  can  no  longer  hold  it  to  be  false  only  in  physics  and 
not  also  in  religion  and  morals.  If  it  were  once  true  for 
its  own  time,  it  would  soon  cease  to  be  tnie  for  our  time. 

TJie  Fhysical  and  Spiritual  Teaching  AWke  Permanent. 

Here  it  should  be  noticed  that  both  the  physical  and 
the  spiritual  teaching  alike  have  a  permanent  and  uni- 
versal import,  as  well  as  local  and  temporary  reference. 
Usually  this  is  admitted  as  to  the  biblical  theology, 
despite  its  antique  and  rude  imager}'.  We  have  read 
the  Old  Testament  forward  into  the  New,  and  the  New 
Testament  backward  into  the  Old,  until  the  God  of  jus- 
tice in  the  one  seems  consistent  with  the  God  of  mercy 
in  the  other,  and  all  anthropomorphism  disappears  in  a 
divine  ideal  of  infinite  purity  and  love.  But  as  to  the 
physical  sciences,  it  is  sometimes  held  that  the  prophets 
and  apostles  were  so  dominated  by  their  environment 
that  they  not  only  shared  the  scientific  errors  around 
them,  but  may  even  have  expressed  those  errors  in  their 
inspired  writings  as  freely  as  they  have  exposed  their 
own  frailties  and  idiosyncrasies.  Otherwise,  it  is  said, 
no  revelation  could  have  been  received  by  them  or  made 
through  them  to  their  own  age  and  country,  or  indeed 
to  any  other  age  or  country.  There  is  a  show  of  truth 
in  such  statements.  Certainly  it  would  be  very  absurd 
to  treat  the  sacred  writers  as  mere  amanuenses  without 
thought  or  individuality ;  and  quite  impossible  to  take 
them  out  of  their  proper  setting  in  the  unscientific  ages 


206  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELiniON 

when  tliey  lived,  and  from  among  the  uncultured  peo- 
ples whom  they  taught.  It  is  not  even  necessary  to 
suppose  their  own  personal  knowledge  greater  than 
that  of  their  contemporaries,  outside  of  the  divine  com- 
munications. But  neither  is  it  necessary  to  suppose 
them  acquainted  with  the  entire  purport  of  those  com- 
munications. They  may  have  spoken  better  than  they 
knew.  They  may  not  have  been  fully  conscious  of  their 
messages,  as  applicable  in  other  eras  and  stages  of  cult- 
ure. Even  in  Pagan  literature  the  great  poets,  sages, 
and  philosophers,  though  writing  solely  for  their  own 
time,  have  unconsciously  written  for  all  after-time.  So 
Homer  sang  in  ancient  Greece  ;  and  the  ages  have  been 
listening  ever  since.  So  Euclid,  two  thousand  years 
ago,  sketched  lines  and  angles  which  to-day  save  the 
sailor  from  shipwreck  and  regulate  the  commerce  of 
nations.  So  Plato  reasoned  in  the  academy,  with  little 
thought  beyond  his  own  disciples ;  and  the  world's  phi- 
losophy is  still  sitting  at  his  feet.  No  more  marvellous 
would  it  be  had  David  discerned  a  divine  glory  in  the 
heavens  which  astrononi}^  now  illustrates,  or  Moses  per- 
ceived a  divine  order  of  creation  which  geology  is  con- 
firming. Inspiration  may  at  least  be  supposed  to  equal 
genius.  Moreover,  the  claim  of  inspiration  being  al- 
lowed, the  sacred  authors  at  once  appear  as  organs  of 
another  and  higher  intelligence  than  their  own.  Avow- 
edly, they  often  speak  of  divine  mysteries  which  they 
knew  only  in  part,  and  sometimes  of  a  distant  past  or 
future  which  they  neither  had  seen  nor  could  see. 
Moses,  in  his  vision  of  the  creation,  during  six  days 
could  not  have  reviewed  the  whole  physical  develop- 
ment of  the  globe  ;  and  Isaiah,  in  his  vision  of  redemp- 
tion, could  not  have  foreseen,  beyond   his  own  fore- 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF   THE  BIBLE  207 

ground,  the  whole  moral  career  of  mankind.  Yet 
behmd  the  words  of  both  Moses  and  Isaiah  was  an 
Omniscience  embracing  the  entire  course  of  nature  and 
of  history.  No  violence  would  be  done  to  their  person- 
ality by  supposing  them  the  mouthpiece  of  such  Omni- 
science. As  voiced  by  its  greatest  teachers,  science  it- 
self acquires  an  ever- widening  vision  of  which  they  had 
not  dreamed.  Nor  need  any  mystical  sense  be  claimed 
for  the  sacred  text  in  order  to  give  it  so  large  scope  and 
fulness.  It  is  not  the  mere  learned  exegete  or  visionary 
saint  who  is  now  reading  between  the  lines  of  pro23hets 
and  apostles.  It  is  the  strict  scientist  who  is  returning 
from  every  conflict  with  the  phenomenal  language  of  the 
Bible,  to  interpret  that  language,  as  he  has  learned  to 
interpret  the  phenomena  themselves,  in  a  richer  sense 
and  with  a  wider  application.  That  the  heavens  de- 
clare the  glory  of  God  has  become  only  more  trae  since 
a  Newton  and  a  Herschel  have  illuminated  them  with 
suns  and  planets.  That  heaven  and  earth  were  made  in 
six  days  is  none  the  less  true  because  a  Dana  and  a 
Guyot  have  been  retracing  those  days  of  Jehovah  as 
long  cosmogonic  eras.  That  man  was  created  in  the 
image  of  God  might  still  be  true  even  though  devout 
biologists  should  yet  prove  him  to  be  but  the  full  flower 
of  the  planetary  life  as  well  as  the  highest  ideal  of  the 
Creator.  Only  the  young  and  crude  sciences,  wran- 
gling among  themselves,  are  at  seeming  variance  with 
the  Scripture.  The  older,  more  complete  sciences  are 
already  in  growing  accord  with  it.  Hence  it  is  that 
the  revealed  Jehovah  still  reigns  in  the  astronomi- 
cal heavens,  instead  of  having  been  left  far  behind  us  as 
an  Israelitish  Jupiter  in  the  skies  of  Mount  Zion.  For 
this  reason  "  Genesis  "  is  still  repeating  the  story  of  the 


208         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  nEJjalON 

earth  instead  of  becoming  the  forgotten  myth  of  some 
Hebrew  Hesiod  ;  and  for  this  reason  Jesus  Himself  is  no 
mere  Jewish  Socrates  of  the  schools,  but  the  Divine 
Teacher  of  mankind.  In  a  word,  it  is  because  the 
Bible,  though  non-scientific,  is  not  anti-scientific,  that  it 
is  as  true  for  our  time  as  it  was  true  for  its  own  time, 
and  is  likely  to  remain  true  for  all  time  to  come. 


The  Physical  and  Spiritual  Teaching  Alike  Suitable. 

We  come  next  to  the  more  positive  argument  that  the 
physical  teaching,  like  the  spiritual,  has  been  adapted, 
both  in  kind  and  degree,  to  our  wants  and  capacities. 
It  may  be  objected  to  the  foregoing  view  that,  after  all, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  get  our  theology  from  Scripture, 
and  our  natural  sciences  from  nature,  and  that  a  mere  ab- 
sence of  scientific  errors  from  Scripture  does  not  prove 
the  presence  of  any  scientific  verities.  This  is  true,  and 
yet  not  true.  As  to  theology,  it  is  true  that  when  con- 
sidered as  a  metaphysical  science  of  God  and  divine 
things  its  material  is  mainly  to  be  found  in  the  Bible ; 
but  it  is  not  true  that  as  an  empirical  science  of  religions 
it  may  not  find  material  outside  of  the  Bible  in  the  re- 
ligious history  of  mankind.  As  to  the  physical  sciences, 
it  is  true  that  they  are  derived  mainly  from  nature  as 
bodies  of  empirical  knowledge  ;  but  it  is  not  true  that 
they  can  find  no  metaphysical  ground  and  material  in 
the  biblical  revelations  concerning  physical  facts.  On 
the  contrary,  a  thorough  investigation  will  show  that,  as 
we  ascend  the  scale  of  the  sciences,  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex,  the  revealed  material  increases  with  our 
increasing  moral  needs  and  decreasing  mental  equipment. 
In  astronomy,  on  its  metaphysical  side,  we  shall  find,  at 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIDLE  200 

least,  some  revealed  matter,  such  as  a  Creator  of  the 
heavens,  whose  immensity,  eternity,  omnipotence,  im- 
mutability, and  glory  they  declare ;  in  geology,  a  little 
more  revealed  matter,  such  as  the  divine  order  of  the  ma- 
terial creation,  the  divine  vision  and  goodness  which  it 
illustrates,  with  some  moral  crises  which  mark  its  his- 
tory ;  in  anthropology,  yet  more  revealed  matter,  such 
as  the  creation  of  man  in  the  divine  image,  his  vicege- 
rent dominion  over  nature,  his  primitive  innocence,  to- 
gether with  some  glimpses  of  his  early  history,  the  ori- 
gin of  races,  languages,  and  arts,  and  their  adjustment 
in  a  scheme  of  universal  providence.  And  so  on,  through 
the  higher  mental  and  social  sciences,  we  shall  meet  an 
ever-growing  volume  of  revealed  facts  and  truths,  until 
vfQ  reach  the  topmost  science  of  theology,  where  the  re- 
vealed material  becomes  transcendent  in  kind  and  infi- 
nite in  extent.  Could  we  here  pursue  such  inquiries,  it 
might  be  shown  that  this  apportionment  of  so  large  an 
amount  of  spiritual  teaching  with  relatively  so  small  an 
amount  of  physical  teaching  is  not  only  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  the  pre-existing  constitution  of  the  human  in- 
tellect, but  is  itself  a  proot  of  the  divine  wisdom  which 
has  presided  over  the  whole  revelation. 

The  Physical  Teaching  also  Important. 

It  only  remains  now  to  add  that  the  physical  teaching 
in  its  own  place  and  for  its  own  puipose  is  quite  as  im- 
portant and  valuable  as  the  spiritual  teaching.  In  prov- 
ing this,  there  is  no  need  to  belittle  the  great  religious 
themes  of  Scripture,  or  to  deny  a  religious  aim  and  pur- 
port, even  in  its  physical  revelations.  Such  facts  as  the 
origin  of  the  heavens,  the  formation  of  the  earth,  and 

14 


210         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  constitution  of  man  have  a  physical  side,  which  has 
been,  indeed,  revealed  to  us  in  connection  with  rehgious 
truth.  Nevertheless,  tliey  are,  at  least,  separable  in 
thought  for  special  study  under  their  scientific  aspects 
and  in  their  scientific  connections.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  are  thus  treated  by  physicists  and  by  some  divines. 
Without  foisting  into  the  Bible  any  occult  meaning,  or 
forcing  it  out  of  its  due  sphere  of  influence,  we  may  in- 
vestigate its  correlations  with  astronomy,  geology,  an- 
thropology, and  other  sciences,  considered  as  subsidiary 
and  complemental  to  divine  revelation  ;  and  the  field  of 
such  correlations  will  widen  the  further  we  investigate 
them.  Moreover,  true  as  it  may  be,  that  religion  is  the 
chief  topic  of  revelation,  yet  it  is  still  true  that  it  touches 
other  great  interests  of  humanity,  and  serves  other  high 
purposes.  Although  never  designed  to  teach  the  arts 
and  sciences,  it  has  in  fact  always  promoted  them  in 
every  stage  of  their  progress.  While  the  furtherance  of 
science,  the  perfection  of  philosophy,  and  the  growth  of 
civilization  cannot  be  ranked  as  its  chief  ends  and  issues, 
yet  they  may  at  least  be  classed  as  its  incidental  fruits 
and  trophies.  In  this  guarded  sense  Ave  shall  find  that 
the  physical  portion  of  revelation,  small  though  it  seem 
to  be,  is  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  science,  philosophy, 
and  general  culture. 

Evidential  Importance  of  the  Physical  Teaching, 

There  is,  first  of  all,  its  apologetical  or  evidential  value, 
to  which  a  passing  glance  should  be  given.  Civilization 
is  interested  in  the  defence  of  Christianity ;  and  what- 
ever makes  a  divine  revelation  valuable,  either  in  philos- 
ophy or  in  religion,  becomes  enhanced  by  the  proof  of 


ALLEGED  KRUORS  OF   THE  PJBLE  211 

its  harmony  with  human  science.  When  the  chief  au- 
thorities in  any  science  are  found  favoring  such  har- 
mony ;  when  its  established  truths  ah-eady  ilhistrate  it, 
and  its  hypotheses  can  be  hopefully  adjusted  toward  it ; 
and  when  all  the  sciences  are  seen  taking  this  general 
direction  according  to  their  different  stages  of  advance- 
ment— we  gain  new  evidence  of  revelation,  the  highest, 
perhaps,  that  can  be  afforded.  It  is  science  itself  be- 
coming an  unwitting,  and  sometimes  an  unwilling,  wit- 
ness at  the  bar  of  Omniscience.  It  is  evidence  which 
is  strictly  scientific  in  its  logical  quality  and  force,  since 
it  is  derived  from  the  facts  of  nature,  as  agreeing  with 
the  truths  of  Scripture.  In  this  age  of  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences it  is  as  timely  as  the  evidence  yielded  in  the  age 
of  miracles  and  prophecies.  It  meets  the  modern  sci- 
entist seeking  wisdom,  as  that  evidence  met  the  ancient 
Jew  requiring  a  sign.  It  even  explains  miracles  and 
fulfils  prophecies,  and  thus  crowns  and  completes  all 
former  evidences.  Without  it,  indeed,  they  would  them- 
selves fall  worthless  to  the  ground.  As  no  miracle  could 
ever  prove  a  falsehood,  and  no  prophecy  could  perpetu- 
ate nonsense,  so  no  amount  of  miraculous  and  prophet- 
ical evidence  accumulated  in  past  ages  could  uphold  a 
Bible  containing  scientific  errors  in  the  face  of  modern 
science.  Herein  lies  the  peril  of  the  hour.  The  timid 
or  rash  apologetes  who  are  spiking  their  guns  on  tlio 
outer  bulwarks  of  scientific  evidence,  and  fleeing  into 
the  citadel  of  orthodoxy  to  repair  its  walls,  may  yet 
find  themselves  in  conflict  with  enemies  whom  they 
had  thought  to  admit  as  friends  within  the  ramparts. 
Schleiermacher  long  since  forewarned  us  of  that  "  bom- 
bardment of  derision,  amid  which  they  will  be  ceremo- 
niouslv  interred  in  their  own  fortifications."     Not  by 


212  EVTDENC'fJS  OP  REVEALED  RELTCIOK 

weak  concessions  to  science  in  this  day  of  abounding 
science  is  the  Bible  to  be  vindicated.  Only  by  strength- 
ening and  insisting  upon  its  scientific  proofs  can  it  re- 
tain its  power,  either  at  tlie  centre  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion or  in  the  logical  crnsade  of  the  missionary  among 
heathen  religions  and  philosophies. 

Mpfaphysical  Iniporfance  of  ilie  Physical  Teaching. 

But  the  direct  value  of  revelation,  not  only  as  scien- 
tifically attested,  but  as  itself  a  source  of  scientific  verit}^ 
lies  more  within  the  present  inquiry.  As  such  value  is 
largel}^  metaphysical,  it  may  not  be  readily  appreciated 
by  the  unthinking  reader,  who  terms  anything  meta- 
physical which  he  does  not  choose  to  understand ;  or 
by  the  superficial  thinker,  who  scorns  all  metaphysics 
but  his  own ;  or  even  by  the  special  scientist,  who  ab- 
jures metaphysics  for  the  sake  of  some  little  fragment 
of  empirical  knowledge.  But  to  the  profound  inquirer, 
even  though  he  eschew  the  scholastic  metaphysics,  it  is 
becoming  every  day  clearer  that  all  physics  at  length 
run  out  into  metaphysics,  and  that  ever}^  physical  sci- 
ence at  bottom  rests  upon  some  hidden  metaphysical 
basis,  underneath  the  facts  or  phenomena  with  which  it 
deals,  down  in  a  recondite  region  of  realities  and  causes 
which  divine  revelation  alone  can  disclose.  The  Bible, 
indeed,  does  not  teach  the  empirical  part  of  any  such 
science,  its  body  of  phenomena  and  laws ;  but  it  does 
teach  its  metaphysical  complement,  the  divine  ideas  ex- 
pressed in  those  phenomena,  and  the  divine  causes  of 
those  laws.  In  astronomy  it  does  not  teach  celestial 
physics,  the  figures,  motions,  and  orbits  of  planets,  suns, 
and   stars   throughout   infinite  space  and  time ;  but  it 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  213 

does  teach  that  divine  immensity,  eternity,  and  omnip- 
otence of  which  the  whole  celestial  system  is  but  a 
phenomenal  manifestation,  and  without  which  it  would 
be  a  stupendous  anomaly.  In  geology  it  does  not  teach 
terrestrial  chemistry,  the  birth  and  growth  of  the  earth 
through  all  its  eras  and  phases,  with  all  its  strata,  fior«, 
and  faunae ;  but  it  does  teach  that  divine  power,  wisdom, 
and  goodness  which  are  the  source,  method,  and  issue 
of  the  whole  terrestrial  development,  and  without  which 
it  would  be  at  once  causeless  and  aimless.  In  anthro- 
pology it  does  not  teach  the  human  organism,  with  its 
laws  of  heredity  and  environment,  and  of  the  evolution 
of  races,  languages,  and  arts;  but  it  does  teach  those 
divine  ideals  through  which  man  has  been  passing  from 
the  image  of  an  ape  to  the  image  of  God,  and  without 
which  he  would  be  a  mere  failure  and  paradox.  And  in 
the  higher  mental  and  social  sciences,  Avhile  it  does  not 
teach  any  psychical  processes  and  laws,  it  does  teach  all 
needed  spiritual  truth  and  knowledge.  As  yet,  indeed, 
these  subtle  connections  between  the  rational  and  re- 
vealed material  of  each  science  have  not  come  clearly 
into  general  view ;  much  less  have  they  been  logically 
ascertained  and  formulated.  Nevertheless,  the  large- 
minded  leaders  in  all  the  sciences  are  at  least  seeking 
some  more  rational  ground  for  them  than  sheer  igno- 
rance or  clear  absurdity ;  and  not  a  few  of  them  are 
finding  it  practically  by  studying  the  works  of  God 
together  with  his  Word. 

Philosophical  Livportance  of  the  Physical  Teaching. 

At  the  highest  point   of   scientific  contact  with  the 
Bible  appears  its  value  in  philosophy  considered  as  the 


214         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

supreme  science  of  kuowledge  or  science  of  the  sciences. 
Here  the  full  appreciation  is  not  only  difficult,  but 
barred  by  prejudice  and  distaste.  We  have  become  so 
accustomed,  wisely  enough,  to  treat  philosophy  as  a 
secular  pursuit,  and  have  so  just  a  dislike  to  any  crude 
admixture  of  religion  with  science,  that  we  may  be  in 
danger  of  the  other  extreme  of  leaving  at  least  one-half 
the  philosophic  domain  under  the  rule  of  scepticism 
and  ignorance.  Often,  because  unAvilling  to  mingle 
sacred  speech  with  scholastic  jargon,  we  may  seem  to 
accept  theories  of  knowledge  which  ignore  or  exclude 
revelation,  as  if  there  were  no  such  aid  to  reason.  Pos- 
sibly our  agnostic  friends,  with  whom  we  agree  up  to  a 
certain  point,  may  sometimes  have  fancied  the  fastidious 
reserve  to  mean  doubt  of  any  philosophy  takiug  religion 
as  well  as  science  within  its  scope.  If  this  be  so,  it  is 
time  to  say,  in  the  frankest  English,  that  while  they  are 
building  their  knowledge  upon  faith,  we  are  building 
our  faith  upon  knowledge.  It  is  time  to  remind  them 
that  the  little  they  do  know,  they  know  only  in  part ; 
that  the  most  exact  science  of  which  they  can  boast  is 
filled  with  crude  hypothesis  and  vague  conjecture  ;  that 
it  has  been  reared  through  ages  of  error  by  a  fallible 
logic ;  that  it  depends  upon  an  assumed  order  of  nature 
which  is  broken  every  time  they  lift  a  stone  from  the 
earth;  that  it  rests  ultimately  upon  universal  concep- 
tions which  by  their  own  showing  are  self-contradictory ; 
in  a  word  that,  apart  from  the  despised  metaphysics  and 
the  neglected  Bible,  it  is  mixed  with  credulity  and  based 
on  absurdity. 

It  is  time  also,  on  our  part,  to  insist  that,  although  we 
cannot  know  everything  about  God,  and  the  soul,  and 
the  unseen  world,  we  may  at  least  know  something ; 


ALLEGED  ERRORS  OF  THE  BIBLE  215 

that  the  otherwise  Unknowable  has  been  made  known 
to  us  by  an  intelligible  revelation ;  that  this  revealed 
knowledge  has  been  built  up  for  us  within  the  region  of 
facts,  through  ages  of  experience,  before  science  w^as 
born  ;  that  it  not  only  comes  to  us  with  scientific  evi- 
dence, but  supports  each  science,  and  throughout  the 
sciences  yields  material  without  which  they  would  fall, 
like  falling  stars,  into  a  chaos  and  void — in  a  word, 
that  the  inspired  Bible  is  a  radiant  source  of  divine 
knowledge,  chiefly  within  the  psychical  sciences,  but  also 
within  the  physical,  and  therefore  essential  to  the  com- 
pletion of  philosophy  itself  as  the  crowning  science  of 
the  sciences.  Such  a  philosophy  will  see  no  scientific 
errors  flecking  that  sun  of  truth  which  thus  lights  up 
its  domain,  but  only  paradoxes  to  dazzle  it,  should  it 
too  rashly  gaze,  and  mysteries  to  blind  it  wdth  tears. 

The  Great  Battle  for  Holy   Writ. 

It  is  more  than  half  a  century  since  this  discussion 
began  in  the  schools  of  Germany,  and  less  than  half 
that  time  since  it  passed  into  the  Church  of  England. 
In  our  own  country  it  seems  destined  to  become  popu- 
lar in  its  course,  as  well  as  academic  and  ecclesiastical. 
The  daily  press  already  reflects  a  growing  interest  in 
questions  of  biblical  criticism,  which  hitherto  have  been 
kept  within  the  province  of  scholars  and  divines.  Par- 
ties are  forming,  as  if  some  great  battle  for  the  truth  of 
Holy  Writ  were  at  hand.  Its  defenders,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  are  as  3^et  but  poorly  equipped  and  marshalled. 
Their  opponents  boast  of  the  highest  culture  of  the 
time ;  have  the  exultant  sympathy  of  the  whole  unbe- 
lieving class;  and  even  claim,  however  unwarrantably, 


216         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

some  orthodox  allies.  In  the  first  onset,  doubtless, 
they  will  win  a  brilliant  victory.  Then  may  come  a 
great  uprising  of  the  Christian  masses,  as  moved  by 
that  Holy  Spirit  who  first  inspired  His  Holy  Scripture. 
Whoever  shall  stand  apart  from  them  in  such  a  crisis 
will  not  be  shunning  a  religious  question  alone.  In  his 
place  he  will  be  deserting  some  other  related  interest  of 
humanity.  The  thinker  will  be  deserting  that  which 
for  ages  has  set  the  problems  of  philosophy.  The 
scholar  will  be  deserting  that  which  has  built  up  the 
universities  of  Christendom.  The  artist  will  be  desert- 
ing that  which  has  yielded  the  purest  ideals  of  genius. 
The  scientist  will  be  deserting  that  which  has  kindled 
the  torch  of  research.  The  man  of  letters  will  be  de- 
serting that  which  has  moulded  our  English  speech  and 
literature.  The  man  of  the  world  will  be  deserting  that 
which  has  lent  to  society  refinement,  and  purity,  and 
grace.  The  merchant,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor  will  be 
deserting  that  which  is  the  ethical  basis  of  their  call- 
ings. The  patriot  and  the  statesman  will  be  deserting 
that  which  has  given  us  our  freedom  and  our  laws. 
And  the  philanthropist  will  be  deserting  that  which  is 
the  very  keystone  of  civilization. 


VIII 

THE   MYTHICAL   THEORY   OF   REVEALED    RELIGION 

AVhen  Infidelity  denounced  Christianity  as  an  impost- 
ure, neither  her  philosophic  probability  nor  her  historic 
credibility  was  seriously  invaded.  Such  an  hypothesis 
was  inconsistent  both  Avitli  Keason  and  with  Fact. 
When  it  attempted  to  strip  away  from  her  the  seal  of 
miracles,  her  historic  credibility  alone  was  invaded,  but 
the  structure  was  left  still  reposing  upon  a  philosophic 
basis.  The  problem  remained  how  that  which  was  so 
true  in  philosophy  should  yet  be  so  false  in  history. 
And  to  have  solved  this  problem  by  a  subtle  compro- 
mise seems  to  be  the  peculiar  boast  of  our  modern  met- 
aphysical era.  That  compromise  is,  no  longer  to  deny 
that  anything  has  happened,  but  in  the  glare  of  modern 
science  to  reveal  what  could  not  have  happened  and  to 
throw  uncertainty  over  what  may  have  happened.  In 
other  words,  the  contention  is,  that  there  is  in  the  sa- 
cred narratives  an  historic  portion,  that  there  is  also  a 
non-historic  portion,  and  that,  taken  together,  they  form 
a  mythic  medley  of  incidental  facts  and  popular  legends. 
The  voice  of  Infidelity  now  is,  not  that  Christianity  is  a 
fabrication  (that  Avould  outrage  all  history),  not  that  she 
is  a  true  history  (that  would  outrage  philosophy),  but 
(the  sole  remaining  hypothesis)  that  she  is  only  a  gor- 
geous mythology,  descending  to  us  from  the  twilight 
eras  of  time,  and  gathering  around  it  in  its  solemn  prog- 

317 


218  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

ress  through  the  ages  her  group  of  gray-haired  shep- 
herds, her  priests  and  kings  and  prophets,  her  Messiah 
and  Apostles.  The  Infidelity  of  Voltaire  and  of  Hume 
stood  aside  from  Christianity — the  one,  from  the  seat  of 
the  scorner,  reviling  her ;  the  other,  from  the  imagined 
height  of  Philosophy,  gracefully  compassionating  her. 
The  Infidelity  of  Strauss  would  fain  stand  at  her  very 
altars,  in  the  garb  of  a  modern  Plato  whose  insight  has 
reached  beyond  existing  superstitions  and  fables  to  an 
airy  and  thoughtful  system  of  which  they  are  but  the 
gross  and  vulgar  expression.  When  the  two  former  as- 
sailed us,  the  one  with  its  scoffs,  and  the  other  with  its 
subtleties,  we  could  lay  our  hand  upon  the  oj)en  Bible 
and  feel  safe,  returning  only  grief  and  pity.  But  when 
the  latter  would  banish  that  Book  to  the  upper  shelf 
with  Hesiod  and  Homer  and  lead  us  back  into  the  peo- 
pled gloom  of  antiquity,  so  twining  the  horrid  visage  of 
error  with  an  alarming  semblance  of  truth  that  for  the 
time  we  are  at  a  loss  to  distinguish  our  Jehovah  from  a 
Hebrew  Jupiter,  our  Moses  from  a  Hebrew  Solon,  our 
Jesus  from  a  Jewish  Socrates,  it  is  hard  to  say  whether 
indignation  or  dismay  is  the  predominant  feeling. 

Subtle  Danrjcrs  of  the  My tl deal  Theory, 

It  would,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  dan- 
gers which  are  to  be  apprehended  from  this  latest  form 
of  Infidelity.  One  of  them,  appearing  at  first  sight,  is 
its  logical  consistency.  Unlike  the  illogical  systems 
which  have  preceded  it,  it  is  based  upon  a  philosophy 
which  is  legitimately  consequent  in  all  its  conclusions, 
and  which  seems  to  conduct  to  the  inevitable  results  of 
all  true  metaphysics.     Accordingly,  we  do  not  find  in 


THE  MYTHICAL   THEORY  219 

the  work  of  Strauss  any  of  that  partiality  and  incon- 
sequence and  confusion  of  a  man  who  scarcely  knows 
what  he  believes,  but  is  blindly  struggling  against  what 
he  is  unwilling  to  believe,  but  there  is  everywhere  that 
calm,  unostentatious  consciousness  of  power,  that  high 
philosophic  candor  and  confidence,  belonging  to  one  Avho 
has  swept  the  whole  field  of  conjecture  and  settled  his 
conditions  of  belief  beyond  recall. 

Another  source  of  apprehension  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
appalling  analogies  which  it  so  cunningly  detects  be- 
tween Christianity  and  the  contemporary  mythologies. 
It  has  ever  been  the  main  effort  of  infidelity  to  confound 
her  with  the  false  systems  of  religion  that  have  prevailed 
in  the  world — and  no  species  of  error  is  so  formidable 
as  that  which  appears  as  a  counterfeit  of  truth,  for  ''the 
similarit}^,"  to  quote  another  distinguished  German,  "  is 
that  caricature  resemblance  the  ape  bears  to  man  and 
which  has  led  so  many  naturalists  into  error — a  resem- 
blance founded  upon  no  real  affinity,  upon  no  internal 
sympathy  of  organic  conformation,  but  which  is  merely 
the  likeness  of  a  spiteful  parody,  such  as  we  may  sup- 
pose an  evil  spirit  to  have  devised  to  mock  the  image  of 
God,  the  masterpiece  of  creation."  But  the  chief  cause 
of  alarm  is  to  be  found  in  the  fascinating  scientific  garb 
in  which  it  descends  from  the  heights  of  learning,  mask- 
ing its  latent  hostility  under  honest  pretensions  and 
even  under  a  Christian  name.  It  ofiers  such  a  ready 
solution  of  the  internal  difficulties  that  perplex  even  the 
believer,  and  would  bridge  over  by  such  an  airy  and 
graceful  structure  that  painful  chasm  which  has  been  so 
long  widening  between  the  disclosures  of  modern  Sci- 
ence and  the  simple  revelations  of  the  ancient  Book 
which  contains  our  faith.     It  does  not,  therefore,  pro- 


220         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

fessedly  aim  at  the  entire  demolition  of  Christianity  as 
an  objective  system  of  belief  and  practice,  as  a  public 
religion  for  the  State,  a  gospel  for  the  pulpit  and  the  cot- 
tage. It  would  considerately  leave  the  historic  and 
miraculous  Jesus  to  the  people — perhaps  they  need 
such — but  the  true  and  proper  Christianity  it  would 
reserve  in  the  form  of  a  certain  Esoteric  System  of 
Doctrine  for  philosophers. 

Origin  of  the  Bbjthical  Theory. 

The  mythical  theory  of  interpretation  primarily  owes 
its  origin  to  the  prevailing  philosophy  in  Germany. 
When  that  philosophy  had  become  widely  diffused  and 
developed  itself  in  its  true  character,  it  became  neces- 
sary either  to  avow  some  sort  of  coincidence  with  real 
Christianity,  or  to  deny  historical  Christianity  alto- 
gether. That  division  of  the  school  who  expressed 
their  infidel  sentiments  undisguisedly  both  by  profes- 
sion and  conduct  could  have  resort  to  the  latter  expe- 
dient. That  section,  however,  who  are  more  moral  in 
their  conduct  and  who  couched  their  belief  under  a 
refined  and  abstruse  phraseology  could  combine  both 
expedients,  resolving  the  gospel  narratives  into  mere 
historical  or  symbolical  envelopes  of  the  ideas  of  their 
own  peculiar  system.  In  this  exigency  neither  of  the 
two  existing  methods  of  interpretation  could  serve 
them.  On  the  one  hand  was  that  of  the  orthodox,  or 
Supernaturalists,  those  who  explained  the  sacred  writ- 
ers literally,  admitting  both  inspiration  and  miracles. 
This  plainly  controverted  not  only  their  philosophy 
but  also  the  discoveries  of  science.  On  the  other  Land 
was  that  of  the  Eationalists  or  Naturalists,  those  who 


THE  MYTITTCAL   THEOnY  221 

though  they  denied  miracles  and  inspiration,  yet  at- 
tempted by  tlie  most  ingenious  exegetical  devices  to 
accommodate  Scripture  to  the  discoveries  of  science  in 
order  to  preserve  the  historic  form.  This  involved  too 
many  evident  absurdities  to  aftbrd  a  permanent  ground 
of  conviction.  The  mythical  method  of  explication 
was  all  that  was  left — that  which  would  sacrifice  the 
historic  form  in  order  to  preserve  absolute  truth.  This 
system  had  already"  been  to  some  extent  in  application. 
At  first  only  the  primitive  history  of  the  Hebrews  was 
abandoned  as  mythic,  that  being  deemed  a  just  and 
valuable  concession  to  all  antiquit}^  sacred  and  profane. 
Gradually  the  mythic  element  was  admitted  into  the 
whole  Old  Testament  in  order,  as  it  was  thought,  to  en- 
hance the  dignity  and  value  of  the  New.  In  like  man- 
ner by  successive  concessions  the  Gospels  suffered  a 
similar  process  of  mutilation.  At  first  only  the  youth 
and  infancy  of  Jesus  was  admitted  to  be  legendary. 
The  naiTatives  of  that  period  of  his  history,  it  was 
maintained,  could  not  have  been  written  contempora- 
neousl}^  as  He  had  not  then  excited  suflicient  attention, 
neither  could  they  have  been  written  during  the  later 
portion  of  His  history,  as  they  plainly  have  in  view 
Christ  not  as  suftering  and  struggling  but  as  glorified. 
They  were  therefore  composed  after  the  resurrection ; 
but  at  that  period  their  author  could  have  no  resource 
but  tradition  which  was  colored  by  the  Messianic  fic- 
tions generally  prevalent.  In  making  this  concession, 
the  historical  integrity  of  the  narratives  relating  to 
Christ's  public  life  was  intended  to  be  left  unmolested, 
and  that  portion  continued  to  be  interpreted  according 
to  the  principles  of  the  Naturalists.  Soon,  however, 
the  conclusion  of  the  historv  suftered  encroachment  for 


222  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  UELIGION 

like  reasons,  and  the  Ascension  into  heaven  was  granted 
to  be  fabulous,  the  interval  between  the  Baptism  and 
Eesurrection  alone  being  declared  of  true  historic 
worth.  Thus,  as  expressed  by  one  critic,  "  men  entered 
into  the  history  of  the  Evangelists  by  the  triumphal 
arch  of  the  myth,  and  went  out  by  a  like  door,  but  for 
all  the  intermediate  space  they  were  compelled  to  con- 
tent themselves  with  the  crooked  and  hard  road  of  the 
Natural  Explication."  When  we  consider  what  that 
Natural  Explication  was,  which  was  applied  to  the  un- 
invaded  portion,  with  what  ineffective  ingenuity  it  la- 
bored to  resolve  miracles  and  apparitions  of  angels, 
and  demoniacal  possessions,  etc.,  into  mere  natural 
phenomena  superstitiously  misinterpreted  by  the  won- 
der-loving populace,  it  would  seem  that  Strauss  only 
perfected  the  incomplete  work  of  his  predecessors  when 
he  made  that  declaration,  so  welcome  to  all  expectant 
Germany,  that  Christianity  is  mythology.  He  claims  the 
admission  of  the  mythic  element  into  the  whole  of  the 
Gospel  history — and  his  critique  of  the  life  of  Jesus  is 
an  ingenious  effort  to  separate  the  non-historic  portion 
and  detect  the  various  forms  which  it  has  assimied. 
The  plan  of  his  work  is  first  to  vindicate  the  possibility 
of  myths  in  the  New  Testament  from  extrinsic  and  in- 
trinsic sources ;  then  to  state  the  distinctive  characters 
of  the  myth  and  directions  for  detecting  it ;  and  then  to 
apply  these  to  the  special  incidents  recorded  in  the  life 
of  Christ,  aiming  against  the  Orthodox  interpretation 
on  the  one  hand  by  a  laborious  compilation  of  all  the 
internal  critical  objections,  and  against  the  Naturalist 
on  the  other  by  an  ingenious  exposure  of  the  hollow- 
ness  of  their  artifices.  We  shall  endeavor  to  give  a 
sketch  of  his  theory,  a  statement  of  its  defences,  and 


THE  MTTHTCAL   THEORY  21?, 

some  of  the  methods  of  refutation — premising  that  it 
will  be  necessary  to  use  language  sometimes  more  novel 
than  reverent. 

DeJinHion  of  flic  Myfli. 

The  myth  is  variously  defined,  and  distinguishable 
into  various  sorts.  It  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  vol- 
untary and  fraudulent  fiction.  All  idea  of  premeditation 
or  invention  is  to  be  excluded  from  the  process  of  its 
formation,  as  it  is  the  gTadual  production,  not  of  an  in- 
dividual, but  of  entire  societies  and  of  successive  gener- 
ations, or  if  it  be  the  conception  and  expression  of  an 
individual  he  is  only  the  interpreter  of  a  far  more  gen- 
eral popular  conception,  and  acts  in  obedience  to  vast 
national  impulses  that  have  long  moved  and  are  moving 
simultaneously  upon  all.  That  such  fables  should  have 
been  believed  in  ancient  times  seems  strange  to  us  only 
because  the  faculty  of  producing  them  has  nothing  anal- 
ogous to  it  in  modern  intelligence.  With  regard  to 
the  difterent  kinds  of  myths,  they  are  said  to  be  such  as 
involve  the  exposition  of  a  fact,  or  of  an  idea  under  the 
historic  form.  When  the  basis  of  a  narrative  is  fact, 
i.e.,  real  events  embellished  and  colored  by  prevailing 
opinions  with  regard  to  the  divine  and  supernatural,  it 
is  called  historic  mythos  ;  when  the  basis  is  a  simple 
thought  or  a  novel  idea  it  is  philosoph  mythos — the  lat- 
ter is  the  invention  of  a  fact  by  the  aid  of  an  idea,  the 
former  is  the  intiiition  of  an  idea  in  a  fact  and  by  the 
aid  of  a  fact.  The  Grecian  Hercules  and  the  Hebrew 
Samson  may  have  had  their  origin  in  some  real  charac- 
ter, and  may  therefore  be  considered  historic  myths. 
The  apparitions  of  the  Pagan  mythology  and  those 
which  occur   in  biblical   history  are  classed  as   philo- 


224         EVIDFJKCES  OF  UEVEALET)  RELIGION 

sopliic  myths.  These  two  species  of  myth  are  often 
complicated  together  so  as  almost  to  elude  analysis — 
as,  for  example,  the  account  of  the  transfiguration,  the 
historical  substance  of  which  was  the  extraordinary  im- 
pression made  by  Jesus  upon  his  contemporaries  and 
npon  the  following  generations;  and  the  philosophic 
portion  of  which  was  that  the  Messiah  was  expected  to 
resemble  Moses  and  Eli,  and  as  a  consequence  the  illu- 
mination of  his  face — an  expectation  which  in  his  time 
had  its  cause  in  the  writings  partl}^  mythic  and  partly 
historic  of  the  Old  Testament. 


Negative  Char  act  ers  of  the  Myth. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  directions  which  are  given  by 
Strauss  for  discriminating  between  the  ideal  and  histori- 
cal element  will  aid  our  conceptions.  The  myth,  then, 
has  a  negative  and  a  positive  character.  (1)  It  is  not 
historj^,  (2)  it  is  liction,  a  product  of  the  intellectual 
tendency  of  a  certain  society.  It  is  not  history  when 
the  events  related  are  incompatible  with  the  known  uni- 
versal laws  which  regulate  the  order  of  events.  Of  these 
laws  several  may  be  mentioned.  One  is  that  it  is  held 
to  be  inconsistent  with  all  just  philosophical  ideas 
and  all  experience  w^orthy  of  faith  that  the  Absolute 
Cause  slionld  interfere  with  second  causes  ;  all  celestial 
voices,  all  divine  apparitions,  human  miracles  or  prophe- 
cies, or  acts  of  angels  or  demons  are  to  be  deemed  as 
violation  of  this  and  therefore  fabulous.  A  second  law 
is  that  there  should  be  some  natural  order  of  develop- 
ment in  the  succession  of  events  narrated.  The  sudden 
transition  of  the  partisans  of  a  great  man,  after  his 
death,  from  the  most  profound  discouragement  to  the 


THE  MYTHICAL  THEORY  225 

most  lively  enthusiasm  is  cited  as  a  violation  of  this. 
A  third  law  is  that  the  psychological  features  of  men 
then  were  identical  with  those  of  men  now — they  could 
not  have  felt,  thought,  and  acted  in  any  other  way  than 
we  ordinarily  think,  feel,  and  act.  The  bargain  of  the 
Sanhedrin  Jew  with  the  guard  at  the  tomb  whom  he 
knew  to  be  faithless,  or  the  incapacity  of  the  human 
memory  to  retain  and  reproduce  discourses  such  as 
those  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  are  ranged  in  this  cate- 
gory. These  last  two  laws,  however,  Strauss  observes, 
are  to  be  used  prudently,  as  subordinate  to  the  first  only 
and  conjointly  with  other  criteria. 

But,  secondly,  a  narrative  is  not  to  be  held  as  his- 
tory, when  it  not  only  fails  to  agree  with  the  laws  which 
regulate  events,  but  to  harmonize  with  itself  and  with 
other  narratives.  It  is  alleged  that  there  are  sometimes 
positive  contradictions  ;  sometimes  important  discrep- 
ancies as  to  time,  place,  number  of  persons,  name,  and 
basis  of  the  narrative ;  sometimes  the  re-occurrence  of 
scenes  and  discourses  that  could  scarcely  have  happened 
with  such  slight  variations.  Sometimes,  too,  in  cases 
when  there  is  what  we  deem  a  silence  rather  than  dis- 
agreement, it  is  asserted  that  it  can  be  proved  the  sec- 
ond narrator  would  have  written  of  such  things  had  he 
known  them,  and  would  have  known  them  had  they 
happened.  Such  are  a  few  of  the  negative  characters  of 
a  myth. 

Positive  Characters  of  the  Myth. 

The  positive  characters  of  the  myth — i.e.,  that  it  is 

fiction — appear  (1)  in  the  form  or  (2)  in  the  basis.     If 

the  form  is  poetic,  the  actors  in  it  exchanging  discom-ses 

of  a  hymn-like  character,  lengthy,  and  with  a  kind  of 

15 


226         EVinENOEP  OF  EETEALED  RELIGION' 

inspiration  not  to  be  expected  from  their  situation  and 
ignorance,  we  are  warranted  to  suspect  its  historic 
worth,  remembering  that  legendary  poetry  loves  the 
most  simple  form  and  an  appearance  completely  his- 
toric. But  the  chief  criterion  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
basis  of  the  narration.  If  that  remarkably  accord  with 
certain  ideas  prevalent  when  the  narration  is  born,  and 
which  seem  rather  to  be  the  product  of  preconceived 
opinions  than  the  results  of  experience,  a  mythic  origin 
is  to  be  ascribed.  Taken  separately,  Strauss  would 
regard  these  indications  of  a  non-historic  character  as 
scarcely  satisfactory.  They  must  be  made  to  concur  in 
a  particular  case.  Thus  the  History  of  the  Magi,  and 
the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents  at  Bethlehem,  agree  in  a 
striking  manner  wdth  the  Jewish  idea  with  regard  to 
the  star  of  the  Messiah  predicted  by  Balaam,  and  with 
the  precedent  of  the  sanguinary  order  given  by  Pha- 
raoh. But  that  alone  would  not  suffice  to  convince  us  of 
its  mythic  character.  When  to  it  is  joined,  however,  that 
what  is  there  said  of  the  star  contradicts  natural  laws ; 
that  what  is  attributed  to  Herod  contradicts  psychical 
laws ;  that  Josephus,  who  gives  so  many  details  con- 
cerning Herod,  preserves,  with  all  other  historical  docu- 
ments, perfect  silence  touching  the  massacre  at  Bethle- 
hem, and  that  the  visit  of  the  Magi  with  the  flight  into 
Egypt  according  to  one  Evangelist,  and  the  presentation 
of  the  infant  in  the  Temple  according  to  the  other  re- 
ciprocally exclude  each  other — but  little  room  is  left  for 
doubt. 

An  Example  of  a  Supposed  Christian  Myth 

This  is  a  sufficient  exposition  of  the  elaborate  rules 
which  have  governed  Strauss  in  his  interpretations.     A 


THE  MYTHICAL   TIIEOUY  227 

single  instance,  the  first  one  in  his  book,  of  Lis  method 
of  applying  them,  will  be  given — the  Annunciation  and 
Birth  of  John  the  Baptist.  He  first  attempts  to  under- 
mine the  literal  explication  of  the  Supernaturalists. 
The  apparition  of  the  angel  to  Zacharias,  he  says,  shocks 
all  modern  conceptions.  The  whole  doctrine  of  angel- 
ology  seems  to  vanish  before  him  like  mist.  The  names 
and  ranks  of  celestial  spirits,  he  attempts  to  prove,  are 
neither  of  Mosaic,  nor  of  any  pure  Hebraic  origin,  being 
first  mentioned  explicitly  in  Daniel,  and  plainly  deriv- 
able from  the  Religion  of  Zoroaster  as  the  Jewish  rab- 
bins themselves  confess.  The  whole  belief  in  angels  is 
now  a  dead  tradition,  belonging,  first,  to  the  idea  which 
all  early  antiquity  formed  of  the  relation  of  God  to  the 
world,  that  of  a  Monarch  surrounded  by  his  court  of 
ministers,  which  idea  is  obsolete,  and,  second,  to  the 
desire  and  necessity  of  those  primitive  times  to  account 
for  natural  phenomena  by  the  intervention  of  super- 
natural causes  and  agents,  which  desire  and  necessity 
modern  research  has  dissipated.  The  discourse  and 
conduct  of  the  celestial  apparition  he  deems  equally 
shocking  to  reason.  Zacharias's  natural  incredulity  is 
punished  with  dumbness,  whilst  Abraham's  in  the  Old 
Testament,  which  is  far  more  heinous,  is  left  unnoticed, 
and  whilst  Mary,  too,  puts  the  same  question  to  Zach- 
arias that  Sarah  did  to  him.  This  inconsistency  then 
cannot  belong  to  God,  nor  to  the  celestial  being,  if 
there  be  such ;  nor  to  a  wilful  fraud  of  the  narrator,  but 
to  the  great  national  preconceptions  of  the  Jews.  If, 
then,  the  account  be  not  a  literal  history,  what  idea 
must  be  substituted  in  place  of  the  one  thus  destroyed  ? 
will  the  natural  explication  suffice?  Strauss  then 
exhibits  the  absurdity  of  the  artifices  of  the  Natmalist, 


228  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  IlETJOION 

such  as  that  Zacharias  whilst  engaged  in  the  Temple 
service  was  brooding,  in  a  dreaming  state,  over  his 
childless  condition,  and  this  subjective  image  in  his 
mind  combining  with  some  optical  illusion  in  the  cloud 
of  incense  threw  him  into  a  trance  in  which  he  saw  the 
apparition  and  heard  the  voice,  and  from  the  stupor 
occasioned  by  which  he  never  recovered  until  the  mar- 
vellous coincidence  of  the  birth  of  John  with  the  inci- 
dents of  his  dream  produced  a  reaction  into  his  natural 
state,  etc.  If,  then,  these  occurrences  be  neither  super- 
natural nor  natural,  what  are  they  ?  Strauss  then 
attempts  to  show  that  the  mythic  explication  is  the 
only  consistent  and  satisfactory  one.  He  reminds  his 
readers  that  the  Jews  delighted  to  represent  great  men 
as  the  sons  of  mothers  long  sterile  [e.g.,  Isaac,  Samuel, 
Samson,  etc.]  ;  to  prescribe  a  name  for  them  and  a 
Nazarite  regimen ;  to  herald  their  birth  by  an  angelic 
apparition  and  to  represent  them  as  precursors  and 
types  of  their  long-expected  Messiah.  Hence  the  bar- 
renness of  John's  mother,  the  celestial  messenger 
Gabriel,  the  prescribing  the  name  John,  the  abstinence 
from  strong  drink,  his  mission  as  forerunner,  the  hymn 
of  Zacharias  in  the  Temple  after  the  circumcision  of 
his  son,  similar  to  that  of  the  mother  of  Samuel  when 
she  committed  her  son  to  the  high-priests,  etc.  The 
only  important  deviation  from  the  Jewish  herotype  is 
the  dumbness  of  the  priest.  This,  however,  is  easily 
disposed  of.  To  ask  for  a  sign  and  guarantee  of  any 
prediction  was  common  among  the  ancient  prophets, 
as  was  also  the  temporary  loss  of  a  sense  inflicted  as 
extraordinary  punishment  by  a  celestial  apparition. 
Saul  lost  his  vision  until  Ananias  restored  it,  and 
Daniel  the   power  of  speech  until   the  angel  touched 


THE  MYTHICAL  THEORY  229 

his  lips.  But  we  need  not  enter  further  into  the 
details  of  this  appalling  dissection.  "To  sum  up 
[remarks  this  subtle  critic,  with  a  quiet  effrontery  that 
after  a  while  becomes  characteristic  and  familiar],  we 
are  here  upon  a  ground  purely  mythico-poetic  and  all 
the  historic  reality  which  can  support  or  conserve  it- 
self with  certainty  is  reduced  to  this ;  John  the  Bap- 
tist by  his  subsequent  works  and  by  their  relationship 
Avitli  the  works  of  Jesus  made  an  impression  so  power- 
ful that  the  Christian  legend  was  written  to  glorify  in 
this  manner  his  birth,  and  connect  it  with  that  of 
Jesus." 

3Iytliical  Explanation  of  Judaism. 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  the  formidable  bearing  of  mod- 
ern criticism  in  its  infidel  form.  Jesus  was  only  a  Jew- 
ish Socrates.  By  the  unexampled  grandeur  of  his 
teachings  and  his  acts  he  persuaded  a  class  of  his  com- 
patriots that  he  was  the  Messiah ;  and  that  vast  mass  of 
national  fictions  and  popular  legends,  which  had  been 
accumulating  by  ages  of  fruitless  expectation,  gathered 
around  him  and  his  history,  the  one  modifying  the 
other.  Christ  did  not  fulfil  prophecy — he  fulfilled  tra- 
dition. Prophecy  was  but  that  natural  desire  to  dis- 
cern futurity  which  was  common  to  all  antiquity,  but 
which  among  the  Hebrew  people  was  modified  by  a 
sort  of  Chinese  deep-rooted  national  vanity  and  by  a 
specialty  and  separateness  from  other  nations,  of  which 
it  had  for  ages  felt  conscious,  and  which  led  it  not  only 
to  ever  project  over  the  whole  future  the  disk  of  its 
own  vast  self,  begetting  hope  and  expectation  by  the 
successive  accretions  of  centuries,  but  also  obstinately 
to  exclude  what  might  have  tended  to  dissipate  all  this, 


230         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

the  light  of  contemporaneous  civilization.  Hence  when 
the  first  Christian  community,  with  a  few  recruits  from 
its  own  soil,  wheeled  off  to  the  Gentiles,  carrying  with 
them  all  its  golden  cloud  of  glorious  old  myths  and  leg- 
ends, it  was  left  desolate  amidst  the  ruins  of  its  gran- 
deur; its  national  hope  was  frustrated  ;  that  vast  hidden 
power  of  moral  cohesion,  which  was  its  life,  was  almost 
lost,  and  with  no  centre  of  political  interest  and  glory 
around  which  to  rally  it  wandered  abroad,  scattered 
and  peeled,  clinging  feebly  to  its  ancient  traditions,  yet 
from  both  internal  and  external  repulsion  ever  refusing 
to  amalgamate.  It  became  the  wonder  and  scorn  of  the 
nations. 

Mythical  Explanation  of  Christianity. 

In  vain  do  we  appeal  from  the  theory  to  that  mighty 
historical  experience  Avhich  the  world  has  had  of  the 
efficacy  and  truth  of  Christianity  for  eighteen  centuries. 
We  receive,  in  cool  and  confident  reply,  some  such  jar- 
gon as  this :  Religion  differs  from  Philosophy  by  giv- 
ing to  the  conscience  the  same  formation  of  absolute 
Truth,  but  under  the  form  of  an  image,  and  not  under 
the  form  of  an  idea.  A  myth  then  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  mediate  betAveen  the  two,  to  give  the  idea  life 
and  permanent  subsistence  in  the  minds  of  the  igno- 
rant and  sensuous — hence  all  religion  is  associated  with 
mytlios.  Now  that  vast  spirit  which  animates  univer- 
sal humanity  is  perpetually  engaged  in  the  develop- 
ment of  ideas  in  individual  and  concrete  forms — the 
infinite  in  the  form  of  the  finite.  In  Grecian  Human- 
ity it  developed  itself  mainly  in  forms  of  the  ideas 
of  the  True  and  the  Beautiful.  Hence  Homer,  Plato, 
and  Phidias  ;  hence,  too,  those  inseparable  philosophic 


THE  MYTHICAL   THEORY  231 

myths  of  Jupiter  and  Hercules  and  Apollo.  And  has 
the  world  outgrown  its  historical  experience  of  these — 
are  they  not  still  enthroned  in  our  literature,  trans- 
formed into  our  mighty  poems  and  orations,  visibly 
embodied  in  our  pictures  and  statues  and  temples? 
Can  we  emancipate  ourselves  from  them?  Turn  now 
to  Hebrew  humanit}^  Its  mission  was  the  sterner  task 
of  developing  the  great  ideas  of  the  Just  and  Holy. 
Hence,  the  exalted  conception  of  Jehovah,  immutable 
and  timeless,  I-am-that-I-am — external  to  man  and  his- 
tory. Hence  Moses  and  the  Law  issued  from  Sinai. 
Hence  the  idea  of  the  race  in  the  concrete  form  of  one 
individual  whose  fate  and  personality  should  be  the  oc- 
casion of  awakening  in  the  consciousness  of  men  the 
conceptions  and  motives  of  the  holy  Jesus,  sinless 
and  humble,  suffering,  struggling,  triumphant.  Hence, 
too,  the  inseparable  historic  myths  connected  with  all 
this — the  necessary  intervention  of  angelic  apparitions, 
messengers  of  a  God  distinct  from  the  world.  Hence 
prophecies  and  miracles  and  signs  and  wonders. 
Neither  has  the  world  yet  cast  off  its  historical  experi- 
ence of  all  these.  The  pure  law  that  lived  in  the  myth- 
ical and  poetic  envelopes  of  the  Hebrew  book  has  passed 
into  our  constitutions  and  social  corporations  ;  and  the 
grandeur  and  holiness  of  the  true  Christ  is  still  wor- 
shipped under  its  old  sensuous  images  and  primitive 
legends.  And  can  we,  need  we,  emancipate  ourselves 
from  all  these?  We  will  have  our  Homer  and  our 
Apollo,  and  we  will  let  the  people  have  their  historical 
and  miraculous  Christ.  They  may  worship  the  son  of 
God  in  the  form  of  a  single  man ;  we  will  worship  uni- 
versal man  as  the  son  of  God,  the  infinite  race  as  sinless 
— sinful  only  in  the  finite  individual. 


232         EVIDENCES  OF  MEVEALED  llELIGION 

3Iythical  Explanation  of  Biblical  Morality. 

Do  we  further  object  that  the  Biblical  history  is  es- 
sentially distinguished  from  all  profane  mythology  by' 
its  high  moral  worth,  and  by  its  superior  credibility  ? 
[1]  With  regard  to  morality,  they  have  their  answer 
ready.  After  a  few  remarks  concerning  the  modern 
misconception  of  pagan  fables,  and  the  amount  of  pure 
ethics  to  be  found  in  pagan  literature,  and  a  running 
allusion  to  the  divine  orders  given  to  the  Israelites  to 
steal  and  carry  away  the  jewels  of  the  Egyptians, 
Strauss  concedes  superior  moral  worth  to  the  Ncav 
Testament.  Nevertheless — what  then  ?  If  an  immoral 
divine  narrative  is  necessarily  false,  a  divine  narrative 
the  most  moral  is  not  necessarily  true.  [2]  With  regard 
to  its  credibilit}^  the  argument  is  also  exceedingly  in- 
genious. As  an  offset  to  the  absurd  myths  of  the 
Greeks  and  Brahmins,  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  the  burning 
bush,  and  the  marvellous  histories  of  Balaam,  Joshua, 
and  Samson,  are  adduced — and  the  result  of  the  com- 
parison is  that  Biblical  fable  is  removed  from  Greek 
and  Indian  fable  only  by  a  slight  degree  in  point  of  ex- 
travagance, and  that  granting  their  superior  worth  does 
not  prove  Biblical  history  necessarily  true,  nor  exclude 
from  .it  the  mixture  of  inventions.  Moreover,  it  is  as- 
serted that  this  very  superior  credibility  can  be  account- 
ed for  philosophically.  That  which  at  once  shocks  our 
belief  in  the  character  of  the  Greek  gods  is  that  they 
are  clothed  with  attributes  incompatible  with  our  idea 
of  what  is  truly  divine.  They  themselves  have  a  his- 
tory, are  born,  married,  beget  children,  perform  great 
exploits,  endure  the  evils  of  labor,  triumph  and  are  con- 


THE  MYTHICAL   THEORY  233 

quered.  In  the  Old  Testament  Biblical  history,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  history  of  God — His  people  only  have 
a  histor3\  But  still  this  furnishes  no  guarantee  of  its 
historic  worth — for  though  the  Hebrew  conception  of 
God  is  less  gross  than  that  of  other  nations,  yet  that 
conception  itself  is  not  perfect  inasmuch  as  it  repre- 
sents God  as  distinct  from  the  universe,  an  artist,  at 
best  limited  and  finite ;  and  it  does  violence  to  a  true 
philosophic  conception  of  the  world,  whose  chain  of 
causes  and  effects  are  made  to  suffer  interventions  of 
the  Deity,  by  miracles  and  supernatural  appearances. 
Strauss  labors  most  ingeniously  to  establish  this  point. 
The  belief  of  it,  he  says,  is  so  "  firmly  rooted  in  the  con- 
science of  the  modern  world,  that  in  actual  every-day 
life  to  think  or  to  maintain  that  the  Divine  Actor  has 
manifested  himself  in  an  immediate  manner  is  to  earn 
the  reputation  of  a  fool  or  an  impostor." 

Such  is  the  way  in  which  the  intrinsic  objections  to 
the  possibility  of  Christian  myths  are  disposed  of  by 
this  subtle  critic.  The  extrinsic  objections  are  met 
with  like  ingenuity.  The  belief  of  the  Christian  that 
his  religion  is  historic  and  not  mythologic  is  balanced 
by  the  like  belief  of  the  faithful  Mussulman  in  Ma- 
homet, and  of  the  Jew  in  Moses ;  and  the  authenticity 
of  the  evangelical  books,  by  a  laborious  investigation 
of  the  early  writings  of  the  Church,  is  left  shrouded  in 
uncertainty. 

The  Theory  Sophisticating. 

We  have  now  given  a  sketch  of  this  insidious  system 
of  interpretation.  When  we  recover  from  the  tempo- 
rary shock  of  doubt  and  alarm  and  rescue  our  Bible 
from  its  rude  handling  and  endless  mutilations ;  when 


234         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

we  sit  down  in  the  quiet  mood  of  true  devotion  and 
read  the  simple,  unaffected  life-like  narratives  of  the 
fisherman  of  Galilee,  and  notice  the  effect  which  they 
have  had  and  have  upon  our  hearts  and  the  hearts  of 
others,  with  what  readiness  does  the  mountain  of  mist 
vanish !  If,  therefore,  an  Infidel,  after  such  perusals  and 
observations,  should  deliberately  and  habitually  regard 
Christianity  as  only  one  of  the  world's  mythologies,  it 
would  be  almost  useless  to  argue  with  him.  Error  has 
had  the  same  effect  on  him  that  an  ingenious  counter- 
feit of  a  true  coin  might  be  supposed  to  have  upon  one 
who  refused  to  apply,  or  was  incapable  of  applying,  all 
the  possible  tests  of  its  genuineness ;  who  saw  only  the 
external  form,  the  image  and  the  superscription,  but 
who  had  not  taken  it  into  his  hand  and  felt  the  weight 
of  the  living  ore,  nor  penetrated  it  by  the  searching 
ordeal  of  experience,  and  who  would  not  receive  the 
witness  of  those  who  had  thus  tested  it.  Or  if,  like 
Strauss,  he  profess  to  have  attained  to  a  sort  of  philo- 
sophic Christianity  without  miracles  and  inspiration  (to 
continue  the  metaphor  of  the  coin),  he  is  like  one  who 
Avould  mutilate  its  marvellous  form  and  divine  image, 
because  there  were  skilful  counterfeits  that  bore  a  very 
exact  resemblance,  or  who  would  entirely  melt  it  down, 
and  remould  it  into  a  new  shape,  thereby  not  only  mix- 
ing it  with  base  alloy,  but  frustrating  the  very  design  of 
its  circulation  among  the  people.  The  very  fact  that  all 
the  false  religions  of  antiquity  claim  a  miraculous  attes- 
tation, if  it  does  itself  presuppose  a  true  miraculous 
religion,  of  which  they  are  the  counterfeit,  is  at  least 
explicable  upon  the  hypothesis  of  such  a  religion. 


THE  MYTHICAL   THEORY  235 


Pagan  MijtJioIogies  3Iere  Counterfeits, 

From  this  point  of  view  the  mythologies  of  profane 
antiquity  may  be  regarded  as  so  many  brilliant  distor- 
tions of  those  floating  traditions  of  the  true  God,  which 
were  carried  away  from  a  period  beyond  the  reach  of 
all  profane  written  history,  when  the  race  was  dispersed 
into  its  great  family  branches.  And  contemporaneous 
with  early  Christianity  emerging  from  the  twilight  of 
her  own  types  and  symbols,  they  may  be  considered  as 
dwelling  around  her  like  misshapen  golden  mists,  that 
begirt  the  rising  orb  as  it  ascends  to  the  zenith  of  its 
unclouded  effulgence.  That  zenith  was  the  associated 
grandeur  of  godhood  and  humanity  in  the  person  of  our 
Lord.  Then  all  type  and  symbol  vanished — then  all 
visible  manifestation  of  Jehovah  in  form  of  angel,  priest, 
or  prophet  was  ended,  receiving  its  completion  in 
the  True  Angel  that  came  down  from  heaven,  in  the 
true  Prophet  of  God,  and  the  Priest  with  his  true  sacri- 
fice— then,  too,  all  miracle  died  with  that  last  great  mira- 
cle. Meanwhile  there  are  whole  peoples  that  still  dwell 
in  the  twilight  of  cast-off  mythologies,  deluded  by 
shadowy  systems  of  false  angels  and  priests  and  proph- 
ets and  miracles,  unmindful  that  the  great  orb  has  al- 
ready arisen  ;  but  the  time  shall  come  when  they  shall 
all  melt  away  before  it,  when  the  nations  of  the  whole 
earth  shall  sun  themselves  in  its  glory.  Thus  not  only 
does  Christianity  present  herself  as  true  history  but 
she  vindicates  her  claim  to  it,  in  that  she  alone  offers  a 
true  science  of  all  history,  in  that  all  history  is  else  but 
a  splendid  chaos.  What  would  this  riddle  of  six  thou- 
sand years  of  human  existence  be  without  the  revealed 


236         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

key  to  its  solution  ?  What  would  this  world  be,  past  and 
to  come,  without  Christ  as  a  sustaining  keystone,  in 
the  arch  of  universal  history,  spanning  the  gulf  of  time 
from  the  Apostacy  to  the  Kestoration  ?  * 

Christianity  Self-  Vindicatory. 

This  theory  of  Strauss,  at  best  only  teaches  us  not  to 
rely  exclusively,  or  with  too  much  confidence,  upon  the 
empirical  proofs  of  Christianity — not  to  loiter  in  the 
outer  court,  the  open  area  of  its  external  evidences, 
where  there  is  so  much  common  ground  for  Infidel  and 
Christian,  but  to  point  within  to  the  high  mysteries  and 
sovereign  truths  there  enshrined ;  to  make  men  feel 
the  need  of  Christianity  rather  than  to  amuse  them  with 
speculations  about  its  origin.  Many  of  the  saints  in 
heaven  knew  naught  of  the  historical  proofs  of  Christian- 
ity. They  believed  in  miracles  because  they  believed 
in  Christ,  asnd  not  in  Christ  on  account  of  His  miracles. 
No  man  was  ever  led  to  Christ  by  the  evidences  of 
Christianity.  No  man  cometli  except  the  Father  draw 
him,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead.  The  testimony  of  miracles  is  com- 
plete in  itself  and  conclusive,  but  the  true  ground  of 
all  rational  conviction  is  in  the  truth  as  self-vindica- 
tory, as  testified  in  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  as  per- 
petually re-established  by  the  most  endearing  witnesses 
from  our  own  experience.  So  long  as  we  take  this 
ground  we  are  safe.  Armed  with  this  faith  Ave  can  enter 
the  domain  of  history  fearlessly,  prepared  to  find  Chris- 
tianity in  the  form  of  accredited  facts,  both  deeds  of 

*  Tliis  argument  is  more  fully  unfolded  in  the  next  paper  (IX.)  on 
the  Historical  Evidence  of  Revealed  Religion. 


THE  MYTnWAL   THEORY  237 

God  and  deeds  of  men,  miracle  or  narrative.  But  when 
we  present  ourselves  in  that  Held  devoid  of  such  armor 
we  are  liable  to  be  vanquished  ;  with  that  armor  miracles 
themselves  become  an  all-conquering  weapon  in  our 
hands.  The  whole  case  simply  stated  is  this:  We 
believe  in  the  Christian  faith,  because  it  manifests  itself 
to  us  now  as  real,  and  because  also  in  all  the  past  we 
find  it  in  the  form  of  actual  historic  phenomena,  duly 
accredited — it  is  time  then  to  show  that  it  accords  with 
all  sound  philosophic  speculation. 

Summary  of  Refutation, 

The  refutation  may  be  thus  summarized  : 

In  the  first  place,  this  mythical  theory  is  incompat- 
ible with  the  know* n  character  of  Christ  and  His  apostles 
and  the  integrity  of  their  biographers,  the  authors  of  the 
Gospels.  We  might  more  easily  believe  that  they  were 
impostors,  fabricating  miraculous  stories  as  cunningly 
devised  fables,  than  that  they  had  deluded  themselves 
into  believing  mere  legends  as  miracles. 

In  the  second  place,  the  mythical  theory  is  incom- 
patible wdtli  the  historic  stage  of  development  which 
had  been  reached  by  Jew  and  Gentile,  at  the  time 
when  the  supposed  Christian  legends  were  formed. 
Such  legends  or  myths  only  arise  in  the  credulous  in- 
fancy or  childhood  of  nations.  The  Jews  had  already 
become  sceptical  as  to  the  alleged  miracles  of  Christ 
and  His  apostles,  and  the  Greeks  had  passed  beyond 
the  myth-making  period  into  that  of  Philosophy,  deny- 
ing even  the  supernatural  origin  of  their  own  national 
mythology. 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  incompatible  with  all  the 


2-SS  EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

circumstances  attending  the  origin  of  Christianity. 
There  was  too  short  an  interval  between  the  death  of 
Christ  and  the  proclamation  of  His  Gospel  for  such  a 
mass  of  myths  to  have  been  developed,  much  less  sin- 
cerely accepted.  It  is  simply  incredible  that  in  the 
space  of  a  few  months  or  even  years  a  Christian  my- 
thology should  have  grown  up  such  as  only  centuries  or 
ages  could  produce.  Moreover,  it  was  but  a  small  body 
of  disciples  consciously  accepting  doctrines  and  mira- 
cles of  recent  origin  and  opposed  to  popular  beliefs, 
and  not  a  vast  nation  unconsciously  forming  legendary 
miracles  and  doctrines  which  had  been  bequeathed  from 
one  generation  to  another,  in  accordance  with  traditional 
faith  and  popular  fancy. 

Finally.  The  time  in  the  world's  history  when  Christ 
appeared  was  too  enlightened  to  admit  of  the  formation 
of  a  current  mythology.  It  was  at  the  highest  epoch  of 
Greek  culture  and  of  Koman  power  that  the  Christian 
religion  emerged  from  an  obscure  province  of  the  em- 
pire upon  the  stage  of  Gentile  civilization.  Not  only 
was  the  jealous  Jew  denouncing  Christ  as  a  false  Mes- 
siah, but  the  sceptical  Greek,  and  the  indifferent  Ro- 
man were  in  no  mood  to  accept  Him  as  a  new  incar- 
nate deity.  Such  a  thing  as  the  formation  of  Christian 
legends,  if  it  could  have  taken  place  in  a  corner,  could 
not  have  occurred  in  the  view  of  the  whole  civilized 
world.  Christianity  openly  challenged  universal  scrutiny 
and  was  accepted  in  its  supernatural  character,  even  by 
its  adversaries  and  bitter  persecutors.  It  was  only  two 
or  three  centuries  afterward  that  infidel  attempts  were 
made  to  compare  it  with  the  mythical  religions  which  it 
had  superseded.  And  in  that  first  encounter  with  the 
mythical  theory  it  came  off  victorious,  and  for  centuries 


THE  MYTHICAL   THEORY  9?.9 

afterward  has  maintained  its  supremacy.  It  is  too 
late  now  to  class  Christianity  with  the  pagan  mythol- 
ogies which  it  once  encountered  and  over  which  it  long 
since  triumphed,  logically  as  well  as  morally,  on  their 
own  chosen  field  and  with  their  own  weapons. 


IX 

THE    HISTORICAL    EVIDENCE    OF   REVEALED    RELIGION 

Universal  history  is  the  circumstantial  evidence  of 
revealed  religion.  It  has  all  the  cogent  qualities  of  cir- 
cumstantial evidence.  It  is  the  evidence  of  facts  which 
cannot  be  falsified,  and  of  facts  innumerable,  cumula- 
tive, and  convergent  in  their  significance.  It  at  once 
explains  revealed  religion  and  is  explained  by  it. 

The  Four  Great  Historical  Facts. 

On  a  general  review  of  human  history  four  universal 
facts  become  conspicuous.  First,  the  existence  of  evil 
in  the  world.  Second,  of  a  pluralit}^  of  races  and  na- 
tions. Third,  of  different  forms  of  civilization.  Fourth, 
of  diverse  systems  of  religion.  This  condition  of  man- 
kind finds  its  only  adequate  explanation  in  the  early 
histories  of  Holy  Scripture.  There,  with  an  hieroglyphi- 
cal  brevity  suggestive  of  the  omniscience  Avhicli  it  veils, 
clews  to  the  whole  complex  enigma  of  history  are  fur- 
nished the  inquirer. 

The  first  fact,  this  moral  and  physical  disorder,  this 
abounding  crime  and  disaster,  this  tragic  hue  in  the 
whole  drama  of  human  existence,  is  traced  back  to  the 
first  tragedy  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Whether  inter- 
preted literally  or  allegorically  that  tragedy  presents  all 
history  as  scarred  with  the  traces  of  a  demon  of  evil 

340 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  241 

who  first  eifected  the  fall  of  man  and  nature.  Histor}', 
in  the  light  of  this  revelation,  is  but  the  arena  of  a  fore- 
told struggle  between  the  seed  of  the  serpent  and  the 
seed  of  the  woman." 

The  second  fact,  the  assemblage  of  nations,  which  ap- 
pears upon  that  arena,  emerging  all  from  a  fabulous  an- 
tiquity and  darkening  the  whole  retrospect  with  a  mass 
of  extravagant  fiction,  is  explained  as  but  the  scattered 
family  of  one  original  progenitor ;  and  their  generic  like- 
ness, amid  endless  specific  diversity,  is  reconciled  by  the 
record  of  their  early  dispersion  at  the  Towner  of  Babel, 
a  miraculous  confusion  of  tongues  by  which  it  was  ef- 
fected being  still  an  accompaniment  and  explanation  of 
the  phenomenon. 

The  third  fact,  the  subsequent  appearance  of  the  race 
in  different  states  of  barbarism  and  civilization,  is  rep- 
resented as  a  divinely  ordered  result.  That  portion  of 
mankind,  who  by  the  primitive  impulse  was  scattered 
in  a  migration  of  ages,  gradually  lost  both  the  memory' 
and  the  intellectual  heritage  of  their  early  ancestry  or 
else  sank  naturall}'  into  historical  insignificance.  But 
that  portion  of  mankind  who  were  not  destined  to  prac- 
tise this  nomadic  habit,  coalesced  into  states  and  em- 
pires, or  modifying  the  original  civilization  which  they 
carried  away  with  them  in  the  dispersion,  formed  new 
civilizations  in  their  new  social  circumstances. 

The  last  of  the  four  facts,  the  existence  of  idolatry  and 

*  Throughout  this  paper  historical  phenomena  are  presented  in  tlie 
Scriptural  language  appropriate  to  the  religious  point  of  view  which  is 
supposed  to  be  taken.  Such  language  is  often  more  or  less  meta- 
phorical; but,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  lecture  on  Anthropology  (V).  it 
is  quite  reconcilable  with  scientific  facts  and  theories  as  to  the  physical 
origin  and  moral  evolution  of  the  human  race. 
16 


242         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

superstition,  is  then  easily  explained.  That  primitive 
revelation  or  natural  formation  of  conscience,  which 
among  the  Jews  was  preserved  pure  and  perfected  in 
Christianity,  in  the  Gentile  world  either  spread  out  and 
was  lost  in  vast  putrefaction,  as  among  savage  tribes,  or 
in  co-existence  with  its  various  forms  of  civilization  gave 
birth  to  mighty  and  progressive  S3"stems  of  error — a 
growth  of  diseased  and  monstrous  strength,  as  if  in  huge 
demoniacal  caricature.  The  literal  interpreter  finds  in 
them  all  the  satirical  intent  of  the  primal"  deceiver. 
To  such  an  interpreter  it  is  no  marvel  that  our  modern 
philosophy  has  been  so  cunning  in  the  detection  of  these 
congenial  analogies — no  marvel  that  in  its  profane  at- 
tempt to  scale  the  heavens  whence  it  looked  down  from 
the  height  of  speculation  upon  history  conjured  up  as 
a  diabolic  panorama  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
it  saw  the  visage  of  error  so  strangely  blended  with  a 
semblance  of  truth  ;  it  saw  Jehovah  but  as  an  Israelitish 
Jupiter,  Moses  but  as  a  Hebrew  Solon,  Jesus  as  but 
a  Jewish  Socrates,  without  miracle  and  without  deity. 
These  superficial  resemblances  are  only  such  as  denote 
a  counterfeit,  and  they  are  accompanied  with  dissimi- 
larities which  indicate  the  absence  of  the  genuine.  Con- 
fessedly without  any  national  art,  the  corrective  of  poet- 
ical absurdity,  the  Jewish  religion  was  not  only  devoid 
of  any  Brahminical  monsters,  not  only  devoid  of  any 
such  popular  conceptions,  but  it  was  possessed  of  relig- 
ious symbols  infinitely  more  consistent  than  those  of  the 
fanciful  Greeks.  Confessedly  without  science  or  phi- 
losophy, its  sacred  books  contained  doctrines  which 
the  most  profound  metaphysics  of  other  nations  never 
equalled,  and  records  of  facts  without  which  all  other  his- 
tory falls  into  chaos.     The  pure  supernaturalism  of  the 


THE  msToniCAL  evidence  243 

Hebrews  and  its  mythical  correspondent  were  not  both 
"  the  product  of  a  certain  intellectual  direction  of  so- 
ciety." The  latter  was  a  product  of  Satan,  wrought  out 
of  the  corrupt  material  of  human  nature ;  the  other  was 
a  product  of  divine  providence  wrought  in  spite  of  that 
material. 

The  BihUcal  Scheme  of  Human  Redemj^tion. 

But  the  Bible  furnishes  something  more  than  a  mere 
explanation  of  the  great  conspicuous  facts  of  human  his- 
tory. It  does  something  more  than  account  for  the  j^res- 
ent  moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  divided  race 
of  mankind.  It  contains  also  a  revelation  of  that  "mys- 
tery which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  has  been 
hid  in  God,  who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ,  to 
the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers 
in  heavenly  places  might  be  made  known  by  the  Church 
His  manifold  wisdom  according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  He  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  To  that 
eternal  purpose  each  of  the  four  universal  facts  of  history 
bears  intelligible  relation.  The  first  fact,  the  apostasy, 
though  antecedent  to  all  history,  was  that  which  deter- 
mined its  whole  subsequent  course  and  aspect.  What 
the  career  and  destiny  of  man  might  have  been  in  his 
pristine  state  is,  of  course,  a  purely  hypothetical  ques- 
tion. What  they  are,  however,  in  consequence  of  the 
apostasj"  the  Scriptures  clearly  reveal  to  us — a  vast 
judgment  to  end  in  mercy  and  a  long  process  of  ic^stora- 
tion  through  divine  love.  Apart  from  the  personal  sig- 
nificance of  Christ  crucified  to  the  individual,  which  is 
excluded  from  our  present  inquiries,  that  greatest  event 
of  all  time  had  also  a  wider  social  significance,  a  rela- 


M4:         EYIDENOES  OF  REVEALED   JIELTGION 

tion  to  the  whole  race  iu  all  its  eras.  It  was  that  which 
made  its  end  consistent  Avith  its  beginning — the  sustain- 
ing keystone  in  that  arch  of  divine  purpose  spanning 
the  gulf  of  time  from  the  AjDostasy  to  the  Restoration, 
from  the  Creation  to  the  Judgment. 

The  course  of  divine  providence  throughout  history 
does  not  therefore  present  itself  to  us  as  a  series  of  oc- 
casional gracious  interferences  in  the  life  of  an  aban- 
doned race,  nor  yet  as  a  mere  systematic  display  of  vin- 
dictive justice,  but  as  a  consistent  whole,  connected  in 
its  outline  and  details  Avitli  the  work  of  human  redemp- 
tion— as  the  gradual  fulfilment  of  that  promise  blended 
with  the  primal  curse  in  Paradise.  Why  its  fulfilment 
should  have  been  so  protracted,  can  only  be  explained 
by  a  scriptural  view  of  the  divine  justice  and  mercy, 
though  even  here  lowly  conjecture  might  not  be  wholly 
at  fault.  Why  the  particular  plan  devised  for  its  ac- 
complishment should  have  been  selected,  is  not  our  con- 
cern, but  that  plan  as  revealed  to  us  in  the  Bible,  and  as 
realized  in  history,  we  may  reverently  inspect  for  the  en- 
couragement of  oiu-  faith.  Its  outline  is  indicated  by 
the  three  remaining  facts  which  have  been  enumerated, 
viz.,  The  division  of  the  fallen  race  into  tribes  and  na- 
tions, their  subsequent  career  through  various  stages  of 
civilization,  and  their  appearance  under  diverse  religious 
systems.  These  are  existing  historical  problems  which 
originated  in  the  earlier  eras  of  time.  They  receive 
their  solution  in  its  later  eras.  They  are  intimately  re- 
lated to  the  scheme  of  human  redemption  during  the 
pre-Christian  period  and  during  the  post-Christian 
period. 

Here  let  the  eye  assist  the  mind  by  means  of  a  tabu- 
lar view  of  the  chronological  eras,  the  divine  dispensa- 


THE  HISTORICAL   EVIDENCE  2:1:5 

tions,  and  the  social  stages  embraced  in  the  vast  scheme 
of  human  redemption. 

Chronological  Eras.  Divine  Dispensations.  Social  Stages. 

The  Pre-Diluvian.  Justice  (J).  p]xperiment. 

The  rre-Cbristiau.  Forbearance  (J-M).  Preparation. 

The  Christian.  Mercy  (M-J).  Appropriation. 

The  Millennial.  Love  (M).  Fulfilment. 

Without  seeking  numerical  accuracy  we  may  divide 
the  Biblical  history  into  four  great  eras :  the  pre-dilu- 
vian  era,  extending  from  the  Apostasy  to  the  Deluge ; 
the  pre-Christian  era,  extending  from  the  Deluge  to  the 
Incarnation  ;  the  Christian  era,  extending  from  the  In- 
carnation to  the  Millennium  ;  the  Millennial  era,  ex- 
tending from  the  Millennium  to  the  Judgment.  As 
Divine  Providence  in  human  history  displays  the 
attributes  of  Justice  and  Mercy,  there  are  four  dispen- 
sations corresponding  to  the  four  eras :  a  dispensation 
of  absolute  Justice  Avithout  Mercy  ;  a  dispensation  of 
Justice  Avith  increasing  Mercy ;  a  dispensation  of  Mercy 
with  decreasing  Justice ;  a  dispensation  of  absolute 
Mercy  or  Love.  And  since  human  society  has  been 
constituted  with  capacities  for  religion,  politics,  science, 
and  art,  in  a  word  for  civilization,  there  are  four  social 
stages  corresponding  to  the  four  divine  dispensations  : 
a  stage  of  experiment  ending  in  failure ;  a  stage  of 
preparation  for  Christianity ;  a  stage  of  appropriation 
of  Christianity  ;  and  a  stage  of  fulfilment  in  a  perfected 
Christian  civilization. 

The  pre-diluvian  civilization  is  depicted  briefly  in  the 
sacred  narrative  as  an  abortive  experiment.  Glimpses 
are  afforded  us  of  the  origin  of  the  arts,  of  religions, 


246         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

and  of  cities.  A  few  historic  figures  are  named,  flitting 
like  colossal  phantasms  across  the  scene,  and  then  it 
closes  in  darkness.  The  first  murder  has  borne  its 
fruits.  The  intermarriage  of  the  descendants  of  Seth 
and  Cain,  the  children  of  God  with  the  children  of  men, 
had  issued  in  a  giant  progeny  of  sin  and  debauchery, 
requiring  the  cleaning  baptism  of  the  deluge.  "And 
God  looked  upon  the  earth,  and  behold,  it  was  corrupt, 
for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  His  way  upon  the  earth. 
And  God  said  unto  Noah,  the  end  of  all  flesh  is  come 
before  me  ;  for  the  earth  is  filled  with  violence  through 
them ;  and  behold,  I  will  destroy  them  with  the 
earth." 

During  the  pre-Christian  era,  however,  the  world 
was  made  ready  for  the  present  Christian  era  by  means 
of  divine  dispensations  and  through  social  stages  of  cult- 
ure, all  having  a  preparatory  relation  to  the  Christian 
Eeligion. 

The  Pre-Cliristian  Dispersion  of  Nations, 

The  primitive  separation  of  mankind  during  the  pre- 
Christian  period  was  such  a  preparatory  dispensation. 
Like  many  other  divine  dispensations  it  had  indeed  a 
proximate  as  well  as  a  prospective  design.  Proximately 
in  its  relation  to  the  men  of  that  age,  it  was  a  mixed 
mercy  and  judgment,  both  a  just  punishment  of  their  im- 
piety and  the  frustration  of  a  demoniacal  intent  of  renew- 
ing the  primeval  disorder.  Prospectively,  in  its  relation 
to  Christianity  and  to  future  ages,  it  was  an  indication 
of  what  would  thereafter  be  the  mode  of  the  divine  con- 
duct of  the  race.  To  speak  in  the  style  of  the  Scripture 
narrative  itself,  it  was  the  result  of  that  compassionate 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  247 

soliloquy  uttered  over  the  new-born  earth  after  the  frus- 
trated experiment  of  the  antediluvian  world :  "  And  the 
Lord  said  in  His  heart,  I  will  not  any  more  curse  the 
earth  for  man's  sake."  It  was  the  scheme  adopted  by 
infinite  wisdom  in  this  exigency.  The  ungodly  portion 
of  the  race  was  not  again  to  be  destroyed,  nor  was  the 
heterogeneous  mass  as  a  united  body  to  be  elevated  to 
the  reception  of  the  promised  blessings.  It  was  to  be 
separated,  sundered,  and  its  several  portions  to  pass 
through  a  vast  historical  ordeal,  ultimately  receiving  the 
promised  blessings,  but  only  after  long  preparations,  by 
fragments,  and  during  successive  periods  of  probation. 
The  divided  races  and  nations  were  still  to  be  detained 
in  their  tedious  banishment  under  a  providence  of  di- 
vine mercy  and  judgment,  by  their  own  mutual  collisions 
chastising  and  being  chastised.  Jehovah  was  to  select 
one  of  them  which  by  a  supernatural  course  of  means 
and  processes  He  should  employ  as  an  instrument  for 
perfecting  that  form  of  saving  truth  which  He  designed 
should  be  the  ultimate  possession  of  all.  With  the  oth- 
ers He  was  to  deal  contemporaneously  after  His  ordi- 
nary methods ;  so  adjusting  them  as  to  territory,  condi- 
tion, and  period  that  they  should  subsequently  appear 
at  the  right  historical  juncture  prepared  for  tlie  then 
impending  task. 

The  Pre-Christian  Civilizations. 

The  forms  of  civilization  developed  by  the  dispersed 
nations  during  the  pre-Christian  period  were  also  a 
Providential  preparation  for  Christianity.  To  afford 
an  intellectual  preparation  for  Christianity  might  be  re- 
garded as  the  particular  work  assigned  to  the  Gentile 


248         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  liELlGION 

Avorld,  to  that  portion  of  it  which  was  not  reserved  in  a 
barbaric  and  savage  state  with  other  and  more  remote 
designs.  The  Jewish  nation  in  contradistinction  does 
not  seem  to  have  inherited  any  dowry  from  the  primi- 
tive civilization  or  to  have  formed  any  national  civiliza- 
tion of  its  own.  In  its  passage  from  Sinai  to  Zion  it 
was  too  busy  Avith  sterner  tasks  to  rear  temples  and 
frame  philosophies.  It  was  given  to  it  to  lay  the  foun- 
dations of  that  imperishable  structure  into  which  all  the 
gathered  nations  were  to  bring  their  glory  and  honor. 
For  the  completion  of  that  structure,  however,  for  the 
reception  and  diffusion  of  Christianity  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple were  disqualified  both  by  their  inveterate  religious 
beliefs  and  by  their  national  vanity.  Whilst,  therefore, 
it  was  a  just  judgment  which  wrested  from  them  their 
ancient  heritage  of  divine  truth,  it  was  an  expedient  of 
infinite  wisdom  which  had  prepared  an  adequate  Gen- 
tile civilization  for  the  emergency — which  had  elevated 
certain  Gentile  nations  to  such  an  intellectual  condition 
as  had  already  in  its  reaction  efi'ected  the  destruction  of 
much  superstition  and  error  and  at  the  same  time  pre- 
pared the  world  for  the  pure  spiritual  system  now  enter- 
ing upon  its  mission  of  mercy. 

Tlie  Pre-Christian  Religions, 

The  growth  of  false  religion  during  the  pre-Chris- 
tian period  was  also  prospective  in  its  bearing  upon 
Christianity.  "Whilst  the  Jews  under  a  supernatural 
economy  were  slowly  elaborating  that  true  religion 
which  was  yet  to  be  the  inheritance  of  the  whole  world, 
other  contemporaneous  nations,  possessing  higher  civil- 
ization, indeed,  but  struggling  against  infernal  might, 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  249 

only  exhibited  abortive  attempts,  strewing  the  pathway 
of  time  with  the  monuments  of  their  baffled  strength 
— melancholy  failures  over  Avhich  the  angelic  spectators 
of  human  history  might  bend  with  shadowing  Avings  in 
compassion  and  awe.  These  were  the  incidental  but 
necessary  aggravations  of  their  mj^sterious  judgment, 
the  wdld  and  piteous  bewilderment  of  the  instincts  of  a 
fallen  humanity  struggling  bravely  forth  for  its  lost 
Creator  if  haply  it  might  feel  after  Him  and  find  Him. 
To  every  age,  to  every  people  were  propounded  the 
same  dread  problems  which  Avithin  the  sphere  of  reve- 
lation were  in  course  of  slow  solution,  the  same  con- 
sciousness of  guilt,  the  same  longing  for  divine  help, 
the  same  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment.  Each  has 
striven  with  these  problems  in  its  own  Avay  and  left  them 
unsolved;  each  has  had  its  own  method  of  shrouding 
their  fearful  import,  its  art  to  give  them  some  practical 
expression  in  the  myth  and  the  legend,  or  some  arch- 
itectural embodiment  in  the  temple  and  the  tomb,  its 
philosophy  to  weave  them  into  some  airy  and  thought- 
ful metaphysics  behind  the  grosser  popular  faith,  its 
government  to  subordinate  them  to  some  species  of  po- 
litical idolatry. 

At  the  head  of  the  nations,  hoary  with  wisdom,  ap- 
peared Egypt,  the  first  of  them  called  to  the  task,  but 
overpowered  and  yielding  in  patient  agony  beneath  it. 
The  priest  of  the  Nile  as  he  wandered  amidst  avenues 
of  frowning  sphinxes  felt  the  burden  of  mysteries  which 
puzzled  the  patient  man  of  Uz  and  his  comforters.  But 
Avhat  diverse  solutions  are  left  us  as  recorded  in  the  in- 
spired Hebrew  poem  and  as  wrought  in  the  Egyptian 
tomb.  In  the  one  perplexity  at  the  anomalies  of  Provi- 
dence is  relieved  by  some  faint  hope  of  an  ultimate  ad- 


250         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

justment,  disgust  with  life  ennobled  and  sanctified,  and 
awe  of  death  dispelled  by  some  dim  prospect  of  after 
glories.  In  the  other  these  feelings  having  no  such 
support  upon  which  to  reach  forth  and  fasten,  ineffect- 
ually baffled  on  all  sides,  seem  to  have  quietly  exhaust- 
ed themselves  in  a  mighty  despair.  Forests  of  colossal 
statues,  solemn  groups  of  gigantic  sphinxes,  bewildered 
the  awed  worshipper  in  that  dark  religion,  each  looking 
down  upon  him  as  the  stern  keeper  of  the  riddles  which 
it  was  not  for  him  to  solve.  The  abodes  of  the  dead  re- 
ceived the  architectural  glories  belonging  to  the  palaces 
of  the  living. 

From  Egypt  the  same  problems  in  the  course  of 
Providence  passed  to  Greece,  and  were  in  like  manner 
left  unsolved  in  her  philosophy  as  well  as  in  her  my- 
thology. The  goal  of  all  her  elaborate  speculation  was 
an  altar  to  the  Unknown  God  which  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  found  in  the  midst  of  her  temples  and  statues. 
The  same  problems  as  transmitted  in  Koman  civilization 
were  treated  as  insoluble  with  only  a  more  practical  form 
of  scepticism.  When  Jesus  presented  Himself  as  an  in- 
carnation of  truth,  the  Roman  governor,  Pilate,  could 
only  turn  away  with  the  incredulous  sneer — What  is 
truth  ?  And  after  the  Roman  arms  had  been  carried 
triumphantly  throughout  the  known  world,  the  mythical 
gods  of  the  provinces  were  stored  in  the  Pantheon  as 
mere  trophies  of  Caesar. 

Unconscious  Prophecies  of  Paganism. 

Paganism,  however,  besides  being  thus  incidentally  a 
melancholy  experiment  and  failure,  was  also  in  its  pros- 
pective bearing  upon  Christianity  a  vast  unconscious 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  251 

prophecy.  Built  upon  the  same  essential  wants  in 
human  nature,  possessed  perhaps  of  some  heritage  of 
the  primitive  revelation,  it  could  not  be  entirely  with- 
out confused  presentiments,  instinctive  pre-assurances 
of  the  coming  glory.  Truth  was  there,  traditional 
and  innate  and  prophetic,  though  in  putrefaction  and 
hideous  caricature.  It  gleamed  in  brilliant  distortion 
through  the  most  splendid  mythologies,  it  lay  in  spec- 
tral fragments  beneath  the  darkest  superstitions.  In 
spite  of  fiendish  malice  the  Jehovah  of  the  Jew^s  Avas  in 
some  way  the  God  of  the  Gentiles.  The  kingly  Mes- 
siah of  the  chosen  people  was  still  the  desire  of  the 
nations,  and  that  Providence  which  illumined  its  future 
with  His  prophetic  image  did  not  fail  to  project  some 
faint  halo  of  it  over  the  deeper  gloom  of  theirs.  They, 
too,  in  a  distorted  form  had  their  religious  symbolism, 
their  imagined  revelations  from  Deity  by  priest  and 
oracle,  their  monstrous  avatars,  their  writhing  Pro- 
metheus, their  sacrifices,  animal  and  human — instincts 
perverted  by  infernal  satire  as  they  reached  helplessly 
forth  toward  Golgotha  and  Calvary.  They  were  the 
Satanic  distortions  of  God's  image  as  reflected  in  man 
yet  to  be  restored  to  unity  in  the  perfect  humanity  of 
his  divine  son,  the  anomalies  of  a  dispensation  of  judg- 
ment yet  to  be  solved  by  a  dispensation  of  grace.  Ke- 
garded  as  contemporaneous  with  Christianity  emerging 
from  the  twilight  of  her  own  types  and  symbols,  they 
were  the  huge  golden  clouds  which  begirt  the  rising 
orb  as  it  went  up  through  a  world  of  darkness  to  its 
meridian  splendor.  Then  all  types  and  symbols  were 
to  vanish.  Then  while  heathenism  sat  exhausted 
with  the  riddle  of  the  world  unsolved,  in  unconscious 
expectation  of  its  solution,  while    philosophy  was  al- 


252         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

ready  Id  the  melancholy  twilight  yearning  for  the  day- 
spring, 

*'  Holy  with  power 
He  on  the  thought-benighted  sceptic  beamed, 
Manifest  Godhead,  melting  into  day 
What  floating  mists  of  dark  idolatry 
Broke  and  misshaped  the  Omnipresent  Sire.'* 


The  Epoch  of  tlie  Incarnation. 

At  this  central  epoch  of  history  its  whole  aspect  in 
the  eyes  of  witnessing  principalities  and  powers  may  be 
said  to  have  changed.  Infinite  love  had  stooped  into 
the  abyss  of  time  and  reconciled  the  world  to  God.  God 
had  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son  that  the  world  might  have  everlasting  life.  And  now 
heathenism  though  still  so  wide-spread,  civilization 
though  still  feeble,  the  nations  though  still  severed  and 
hostile,  humanity  though  still  corrupt,  and  nature  though 
still  disordered,  sustained  a  different  relation  to  the  Di- 
vine reconciler,  the  Father  as  represented  by  the  Son. 
The  enigmatical  prophecy  of  past  providence  was  to 
evolve  its  slow  fulfilment  in  the  providence  of  the  fut- 
ure. That  vast  hidden  current  of  divine  purpose,  upon 
which  the  scattered  race  had  so  long  floated  in  diver- 
gence from  the  origin  of  history,  now  began  its  slow 
convergence  toward  the  issue  of  history.  The  ages  of 
experiment  and  preparation  with  reference  to  Christi- 
anity were  to  be  succeeded  by  the  ages  of  appropriation 
and  realization. 

This,  too,  was  to  be  a  tardy  and  gradational  process, 
not  by  a  simultaneous  movement  of  the  body  of  man- 
kind, but  in  predestined  portions,  through  successive 


THE  nif^TORICAL  EVIDENCE  253 

stages  and  during  long  eras.  The  judgment  of  the  na- 
tions was  not  yet  complete,  nor  was  the  whole  world 
ready  for  mercy.  Christianity  herself  was  not  yet  pre- 
pared for  her  ultimate  work  of  social  as  well  as  individ- 
ual regeneration.  She  had  come  forth  from  Judea  a 
fragmentary  mass  of  doctrines  and  institutions,  needing 
both  internal  consolidation  and  external  naturalization. 
These  two  objects  were  to  be  attained  both  contempo- 
raneously and  successively,  the  one  helping  forward  the 
other. 

External  History  of  Christianity. 

As  to  the  external  naturalization  of  Christianity  among 
the  nations,  this  object  could  not  be  fully  attained  by  the 
first  Gentile  civilization  which  she  appropriated.  It  was 
largely  composed  of  the  rubbish  of  ancient  error,  and 
sank  beneath  her  more  massive  spiritual  forces.  The 
admixture  of  a  sterner  ingredient  was  needed  in  order 
that  civilization  might  be  fitted  to  receive  Christianity. 
"  He  that  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to 
dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined 
the  times  afore  appointed  and  the  bounds  of  their  habi- 
tation," from  the  primeval  summits  of  history  had  fore- 
seen the  exigency  and  prepared  the  requisite  expedient. 
It  was  then,  with  the  fall  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  that  the 
hardy  nomadic  portion  of  mankind  in  northern  Europe, 
so  long  reserved  in  a  savage  state,  casting  off  after  a 
brief  struggle  its  cumbrous  mythology  as  but  the  ex- 
travagant dreams  of  its  youth  and  infancy,  was  moved 
by  a  divine  impulse  to  invade  southern  Europe  and  be- 
came the  rightful  heir  of  that  Grecian  and  Eoman  civil- 
ization under  a  Christian  form  which  might  else  have 
languished  in  imbecility  and  decay. 


254         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

Let  it  be  here  observed,  in  passing,  how  wonderfully 
the  sovereign  Father  of  mankind  conducts  a  system  of 
specific  dispensation  among  the  various  tribes  and  kin- 
dreds which  compose  His  human  family.  We  have  seen 
His  great  primitive  act  of  territorial  adjustment  in  regard 
to  the  whole  race  at  the  outset  of  its  history.  At  that 
early  period  He  is  represented  as  having  sundered  the 
race  into  different  nations  and  scattered  them  abroad 
over  the  world,  in  plain  fulfilment  of  His  design  that  they 
should  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  process 
of  their  division  and  dispersion  is  described  as  due  to 
miraculous  dispensations.  He  had  confounded  their 
language  at  the  Tower  of  Babel,  and  by  this  expedient  at 
once  frustrated  their  tendency  to  concentrate  and  sent 
them  forth  under  the  impulse  of  a  migratory  habit  which 
adheres  to  them  for  ages,  until  such  time  as  the  earth 
shall  have  been  sufficiently  covered  with  population. 
But  this  species  of  divine  supervision  did  not  cease  with 
the  great  primitive  act  of  territorial  adjustment.  As  He 
dealt  at  the  outset  with  the  race  as  a  whole,  so  did  He 
thenceforward  continue  to  deal  with  its  several  portions 
during  all  their  subsequent  dispersion  and  progress.  He 
conducted  each  to  its  destined  locality  and  enclosed  it 
within  its  own  physical  environment.  He  determined 
the  bounds  of  their  habitation.  With  respect  to  one 
particular  nation,  the  chosen  people,  He  had  carried  out 
this  process  of  colonization  in  a  miraculous  manner.  He 
had  violently  extricated  them  from  their  Egyptian  bond- 
age ;  designated  prophetically  the  land  which  i\\ej  were 
to  inhabit ;  conducted  them  thither  by  a  pillar  of  cloud 
and  fire  ;  extirpated  the  original  owners  of  the  soil  and 
established  them  in  its  secure  and  permanent  pos- 
session. 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  255 


History  of  American  Christianity. 

In  like  manner  the  dispensations  of  divine  provi- 
dence toward  the  American  people  indicate  the  same 
prescience.  It  appears  in  the  circumstances  attending 
their  settlement  upon  this  continent.  The  remaining 
hemisphere  of  the  world  was  discovered  at  the  time 
appointed  and  ordered  as  the  bounds  of  their  habita- 
tion. It  may  be  regarded  as  a  pre-destined  theatre 
for  the  later  acts  of  history.  It  emerges  into  the  view 
of  mankind,  if  not  with  the  same  supernatural  aspect 
as  the  miraculous  land  of  promise,  yet  with  equally 
marvellous  signs  of  divine  providence.  No  train  of 
direful  plagues  opened  the  way  for  the  liberation  of  the 
American  colonists  like  those  which  loosened  the  fetters 
of  Egyptian  bondage.  No  celestial  prodigy  lieralded 
their  passage  through  the  wide  waste  of  waters  like  that 
which  guided  the  emigrating  tribes  of  Israel  through 
the  wilderness — no  extraordinary  interpositions  attended 
the  removal  of  the  savage  tribes  of  North  America  such 
as  attended  the  extermination  of  the  Canaanitish  abor- 
igines. Yet  the  facts  which  have  resulted  are  as  re- 
markable as  if  they  had  been  thus  miraculously  pro- 
duced. The  fugitives  from  European  oppression  enter 
a  domain  which  has  evidently  been  held  in  reserve  for 
their  use,  and  the  primitive  inhabitants  vanishing  be- 
fore their  superior  prowess,  leave  them  in  undisturbed 
possession.  Nowhere  else  in  modem  history  do  we 
find  the  Euler  of  nations  conducting  a  people  to  a  ter- 
ritory which  has  not  been  already  pre-occupied  for  some 
important  purpose,  and  where  the  pre-occupants  have 
not  at  length  settled  down  into  joint  and  peaceable  pos- 


250  EVIDENCED  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

session  witli  their  conquerors  and  finally  given  birth  to 
an  amalgamated  civilization. 

As  Christian  Europe  became  the  heir  of  Greek  and 
Roman  culture,  so  Christian  America  has  become  the 
heir  of  Christian  Europe.  By  such  far-reaching  and 
world-wide  dispensations  has  divine  providence  led  to 
the  external  establishment  of  Christianity  among  the 
nations  of  the  modern  world. 


The  Internal  History  of  Christianity. 

Meanwhile  the  other  preliminary  mentioned,  the  in- 
ternal consolidation  of  Christianity  as  a  doctrinal  sys- 
tem, she  was  destined  to  attain  through  a  long  refining 
ordeal  of  persecution  and  dissension.  Her  faith  and 
worship  were  to  come  to  her  as  the  distilled  issue  of 
the  errors  of  thousands  of  decayed  systems.  But  as 
she  emerged  from  that  ordeal  into  purity  of  doctrine 
and  form  at  the  Reformation,  she  gave  release  to  the 
intellectual  and  political  powers  so  long  joined  to  her  in 
unnatural  bondage.  They  started  at  once  into  rapid  and 
flourishing  growth,  so  that  now  she  appears  upon  the 
broad  stage  of  the  world  in  a  young  and  vigorous  civil- 
ization, astir  with  vast  preparations  for  her  final  task. 
That  task  is  the  bestowment  of  salvation  upon  the  rest 
of  the  Gentiles  according  to  primeval  promise.  The 
ancient  realm  of  heathenism,  where  the  god  of  this  world 
has  so  long  reigned  in  gloomy  grandeur,  is  now  for  the 
first  time  appearing  upon  the  arena  of  general  histor}^ 
though  still  covered  with  the  outworn  myths  and  super- 
stitions which  linger  as  the  morning  clouds  of  that  Sun 
of  Righteousness  so  far  above  them  and  beyond  them. 
The  religious  aspect  of  our  era  presents  the  two  phases 


THE  HISTORICAL   EVIDENCE  257 

of  Christianity  and  heathenism,  the  one  possessed  of  all 
the  moral,  intellectual,  and  political  forces  of  the  world, 
the  other  superannuated,  decaying,  and  powerless.  All 
mankind  are  at  length  visibly  marshalled  as  if  for  the 
triumph  of  Christianity,  presenting  a  void  of  practical 
atheism  through  which  it  may  pass  unobstructed,  as  in 
Africa,  or  a  mass  of  ancient  superstitions  already  yield- 
ing to  its  pressure,  as  in  western  and  southern  Asia,  or 
a  corrupt  Christianity  still  in  the  ordeal  of  persecution, 
as  in  eastern  Asia,  or  within  the  bounds  of  Christendom 
held  in  check  by  a  Protestant  civilization,  as  in  Europe 
and  America.  In  other  w^ords,  the  lines  of  general  his- 
tory, from  its  middle  epoch,  seem  to  be  converging 
toward  a  solution  of  the  first  of  its  primitive  problems. 
In  the  approaching  destruction  of  idolatry  and  super- 
stition, Christianity  as  the  one  absolute  and  universal 
religion  seems  marching  toward  its  triumph  over  all 
false  religions,  resuming  their  truths  while  it  rejects 
their  errors,  according  to  scriptural  promise. 

TJw  Prospects  of  Christian  Civilization. 

But  the  removal  of  religious  error  from  the  world 
will  also  affect,  as  well  during  its  process  as  at  its  issue, 
the  solution  of  the  next  problem  of  general  history — 
the  destination  of  the  different  civilizations  of  mankind. 
Viewed  as  disconnected  from  Christianity,  civilization 
is  itself  an  embodiment  of  interests  which  intimately 
concern  her  in  her  earthly  state  as  organized  in  the 
Church.  It  was  that  pure  adjunct  of  heathenism  which 
she  inherited  from  it  and  by  which  she  sliall  yet  over- 
come and  possess  it.  During  the  earlier  Christian  eras 
she  suffered  the  accompauj^ing  civilization  to  have  a 
17 


258         EVIDENCES  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION 

false  unhallowed  alliance;  worship  was  resolved  into 
mere  art ;  revelation  was  drawn  as  a  veil  of  superstitious 
reverence  over  the  eye  of  science ;  the  state  was  made 
the  powerless  instrument  of  the  church;  but  now  in 
the  present  era  these  several  earthly  powers  are  in  a 
state  of  greater  or  less  indifference  and  antagonism. 
The  question  arises,  is  this  to  be  the  intellectual  and 
political  condition  of  the  world  when  Christianity  has 
her  destined  prevalence?  Is  art  always  to  be  but  a 
prostitution  of  beauty  to  error  and  superstition  ?  Is 
science  still  to  widen  the  gulf  between  the  revelations 
of  the  Scriptures  and  the  revelations  of  nature?  Is 
geology  ever  to  wander  like  a  busy  gnome  exulting 
over  the  mistakes  of  Genesis  ?  Is  biology  to  destroy 
the  divine  image  in  man  and  reduce  him  to  the  image 
of  an  ape  ?  Is  philosophy  to  swallow  up  the  divine 
knowledge  in  her  speculative  cosmogonies  and  theog- 
onies  or  leave  it  to  vanish  in  sheer  nescience  ?  Is  the 
state  always  to  protect  and  tolerate  the  church?  Is 
government  to  be  but  a  necessary  barrier  against  inva- 
sion ?  Are  the  nations  to  exhaust  their  resources  in  a 
system  of  costly  armaments  and  waste  them  in  destruc- 
tive warfare?  In  a  word,  is  all  civilization  to  continue 
but  a  mighty  assemblage  of  misdirected  powers?— or 
rather  may  we  not  say  that  all  these  are  only  the  right- 
ful ministers  and  co-workers  of  Christianity,  emanci- 
pated indeed  from  her  present  control,  yet  still  held 
in  safe  abeyance  and  moving  with  perverted  potency 
within  the  lesser  sphere  of  which  her  own  grander 
sphere  is  but  inclusive.  Shall  she  not  yet  reappropri- 
ate  them  and  transfuse  them  with  her  own  spirit  ?  May 
we  not  look  for  the  time,  however  distant,  when  art 
shall  be  resolved  into  worship  ;  when  this  widening  gulf 


THE  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  251) 

between  science  and  revelation  shall  be  bridged  over  by 
increasing  knowledge  and  faith ;  when  the  state  shall 
be  merged  and  lost  in  the  church,  and  the  nations  no 
longer  held  in  an  antagonism  of  mutual  repulsion  shall 
be  tranquillized  by  a  reign  of  universal  love  and  peace ; 
when  the  pure  socialism  of  the  early  Christians  shall  no 
more  be  presented  only  in  hideous  caricature,  and  that 
diffuse  philanthropy,  which  is  now  but  an  aimless  in- 
stinct, shall  be  elevated  into  a  feeling  definite  and  self 
knowing,  clothed  with  intelligence  and  beauty  ?  In- 
deed, can  we  not  already  discern  vast  social  tenden- 
cies which  must  sooner  or  later  issue  in  the  triumph 
of  a  Christian  science  over  error,  of  a  Christian  art 
over  nature,  of  a  Christian  state  over  slavery,  of  a 
Christian  civilization  over  heathen  barbarism  through- 
out the  earth  ? 

The  Predicted  Triumph  of  Christianity. 

The  transition  of  prophecy  into  history,  it  may  be,  is 
miraculous  only  in  prospect.  We  look  forward  to  the 
Second  Advent  of  Christ,  the  Millennial  Reign  of  Peace, 
and  the  Judgment  of  the  World  as  a  pageant  of  rapidly 
succeeding  events,  depicted  upon  the  prophetic  canvas 


as 


foreshortened  in  the  tract  of  time.' 


But  the  regeneration  of  mankind,  like  the  creation  of 
the  world,  may  be  a  long  evolutionary  process  through 
successive  stages  and  periods  of  civilization.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  call  it  a  pageant  or  a  process,  or  a  process  issu- 
ing in  a  pageant,  the  time  must  come  when  the  goal  of 
history  shall  be  reached  in  the  universal  triumph  of 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  AVorld. 


Other  Works  by  the 
Rev.  Charles  W.  Shields,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Philosophia  Ultima 

Or,  Science  of  the  Sciences 


Vol.  I.  An  Historical  and  Critical  Introduction  to  the 
Final  Philosophy  as  Issuing  from  the  Harmony  of 
Science  and  Religion.  Third  Edition,  Abridged  and 
Revised.      8vo,   $3.00. 

V^ol.    II.      The  History  of  the  Sciences  and  the  Logic  of 
the  Sciences.      8vo,   ^3.00. 


OPINIONS    OF   THE    PRESS 

"  His  book  is  written  with  great  ability  5  it  gives  evidence  on  every 
page  of  wide  reading  and  rare  power  of  generalization  5  it  fully  sustains  the 
author's  reputation  as  a  religious  philosopher,  and  it  is  a  credit  to  American 
authorship  and  to  the  institution  whence  it  goes  out  into  the  world." 

— Pres.    Francis  L.    Patton,    D.V). 

*'One  of  the  most  candid,  comprehensive  and  profoundly  philosophic 
books  of  our  time." — Henry   van    Dyke  in   N.  Y.    Evening   Post. 

*'  Whether  for  wealth  of  erudition,  clearness  of  apprehension,  or 
perspicuity  of  statement,  no  recent  publication  of  the  American  press  is 
more  conspicuous  than  this  volume." — N.   Y.    Tribune. 


The 


Historic  Episcopate 


An  Essay  on  the  Four  Articles  of  Church  Unity  Proposed 
by  the  American  House  of  Bishops  and  the  Lambeth 
Conference.      i  zmo,  netj  60  cents. 


OPINIONS    OF    THE    PRESS 

*'  A  clear,  terse,  vigorous  paper,  broadly  catholic  in  spirit,  and  itself  a 
striking  proof  of  progress  in  the  direction  of  Church  Unity." 

— Congregationalist. 

"  No  work  on  the  subject  of  Church  Unity  has  attracted  wider 
attention. " — E'vangelist. 

*'  It  is  a  scholarly  presentation  of  the  main  points  at  issue  between  the 
various  sects  and  denominations,  setting  forth  clearly  those  upon  which 
there  is  a  general  unity,  and  sharply  defining  those  upon  which  the  differ- 
ence seems  irreconcilable,  with  some  suggestions  as  to  the  possibility  of  secur- 
ing that  unity  which  is  so  ardently  desired  by  the  authorized  organs  of  our 
great  churches.  It  shows  profound  mastery  of  the  literature  of  the  subject, 
clear,  logical  grasp  of  its  essentials  and  a  kindly  spirit." 

— Philadelphia   Public  Ledger. 

"  An  interesting  contribution  to  the  widely  discussed  question  of 
Church  Unity  is  now  to  be  had  in  book  form  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Charles 
W.  Shields,  of  Princeton,  author  of  *  Philosophia  Ultima.'  No  work  on 
the  subject  has  attracted  wider  attention." — The  E'vangelist^ 


The  United  Church 

OF    THE 

United  States 

8vo,  $2.50 

Contents  :  Existing  Agreements  of  the  American  Churches, 
in  Doctrine,  in  Polity  and  in  Ritual — Denominational 
Opinions  on  Church  Unity,  by  Representative  Episco- 
palians, Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists — The 
Chicago-Lambeth  Proposals  for  Church  Unity — The 
Three  Church  Polities  and  the  Historic  Episcopate — 
The  Historic  Presbyterate  and  the  Historic  Episcopate 
— The  Christian  Denominations  and  the  Historic 
Liturgy — American  Church  Unity  as  a  Sociological 
Question. 

OPINIONS   OF    THE    PRESS 

*'  A  singularly  noble  and  timely  book."  —  The  Churchman. 

**  Whoever  in  future  wishes  to  discuss  in  a  helpful  way  the  problem 
of  Church  Unity  must  study  this  notable  contribution  of  Profe-ssor  Shields, 
the  fruit  of  thirty  years'  attention  to  the  subject."  —  The  Outlook. 

"But  Professor  Shields's  book  is  more  than  a  dream  of  unity  that  is 
to  be.  It  is  a  valuable  historical  record  of  the  recent  attempts  to  bring 
about  an  organic  unity,  and  of  the  various  views  on  the  question  expressed 
by  denominational  leaders." — N.  Y.    Tribune. 

'<  What  Dr.  Shields  has  to  say  on  the  subject  deserves  and  will  com- 
mand the  widest  attention.  He  gives  a  broad  and  intelligent  view  of  the 
situation.  No  one  can  read  these  essays  without  profit.  They  touch  many 
points  and  illumine  many  phases  of  '  the  chier  Christian  problem  of  our 
age.'  " — Lutheran  Quarterly. 


Presbyterian  Book 
of  Common  Prayer 


And  Administration  of  the  Sacraments  and  other  Rites  and 
Ceremonies  of  the  Church,  as  amended  by  the  Presby- 
terian Divines  in  the  Royal  Commission  of  1661,  and 
in  agreement  with  the  Directory  for  Pubhc  Worship  oi' 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  edited 
with  a  Supplementary  Treatise.      i6mo,  /lei,  $1.50. 


Religion  and  Science 


IN   THEIR 


Relations  to   Philosophy 

8vo,  75  cents 


The  Order  of  the  Sciences 

An  Essay   on  the  Philosophical    Classificadon   and    Organi- 
zation of  Human   Knowledge.      i  zmo,    75   cents. 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers 

153-157   Fifth   Avenue,   New  York 


DATE  DUE 

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